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R. equi, long known as an important pathogen of immature horses, has become an opportunist infecting immunodepressed humans. The toxin-influenced pathogenesis of these 3 coryneforms is reasonably wellknown, including demyelinization, but expected to be much better defined in perhaps a decade. A. haemolyticum is known to produce uncharacterized hemolytic agent(s) and 2 defined extracellular toxins: a neuraminidase and a phospholipase D (PLD) acting preferentially on sphingomyelin and generating ceramide phosphate in the target membrane. As elaborated by A. haemolyticum and closely related C. pseudo-tuberculosis, PLD is wellknown to demyelinize nerves.