Corynebacterium striatum appears as gram-positive rods that are often club-shaped with metachromatic granules present. Isolates appear similar to coagulase-negative staphylococci and grow well on blood agar with smooth, slightly moist, whitish colonies with a slight zone of ß-hemolysis.
This organism ferments glucose, fructose, glycogen, maltose, and mannose. Isolates are also hippurate and methyl-red positive.
While C. striatum can be found as part of the human normal flora on the skin and in the oropharynx, it has been implicated in infections due primarily to the colonization of indwelling devices such as prostheses, catheters, ventilators, feeding tubes, pacemaker endocarditis, and chronic wounds. It may be difficult to determine true infection versus contamination or colonization when this organism is recovered in clinical specimens.
