Pathogenicity, Species, and Resistance: Fixed Categories or Functional Constructs? A Call for Relational Microbiology

Abstract Classical microbiology has long relied on discrete categories to define bacterial species, pathogenicity, and antimicrobial resistance. However, comparative genomics of neglected species reveals the limitations of these rigid frameworks. Using Corynebacterium glucuronolyticum as a paradigm, we argue that these concepts are better understood as functional constructs that depend on genomic, ecological, and clinical contexts rather than fixed biological entities. This perspective challenges traditional dichotomies and calls for a relational approach to modern microbiology.