Corynebacterium glutamicum is a Gram-positive, rod-shaped bacterium that is used industrially for large-scale production of amino acids, especially glutamic acid and lysine. While originally identified in a screen for organisms secreting L-glutamate, mutants of C. glutamicum have also been identified that produce various other amino acids and derivatives of amino acids.

Due to its industrial importance, several clones of C. glutamicum have been sequenced by both industry and academic groups. Furthermore, small RNA data was obtained by RNA-Seq in C. glutamicum ATCC 13032. The metabolism of this strain has been reconstructed and is available in the form of a genome-scale metabolic model.