Preface to the Present Edition (original) (raw)

This volume contains the edition of the International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria approved by the Plenary Session of the Fifteenth International Congress of Microbiology, Osaka, 1990, together with lists of conserved and rejected bacterial names and of Opinions issued by the Judicial Commission. The Statutes of the International Committee on Systematic Bacteriology (ICSB) and the_Statutes of the Bacteriology and Applied Microbiology Division of the International Union of Microbiological Societies_ (IUMS), formerly the Bacteriology Section of the International Association of Microbiological Societies (IAMS), are also included. Some minor editorial changes have been required where the 1975 edition referred to actions in the future.

Three important reforms were introduced by the revision of the Code published in 1975:

  1. A new starting document and starting date were achieved with the publication of the Approved Lists of Bacterial Names on 1 January 1980 (Skerman _et al.,_1980), containing about 2,300 names. Names not on those lists lost their standing in nomenclature, thus clearing away many thousands of useless names. The old names are, nevertheless, available for revival individually if the provisions for doing so are met.
  2. All new names are validly published only in the International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology (IJSB), although they may be effectively published elsewhere and then validated by announcement in Validation Lists in the IJSB.
  3. For valid publication, nomenclatural types must be designated.

This new system of nomenclature came fully into force on 1 January 1980, and the reaction of the bacteriological community was awaited with some trepidation. In the event, it has worked remarkably well and has fully justified the foresight of the two individuals who contributed the bulk of the effort toward it, Professor V. B. D. Skerman and the late Dr. S. P. Lapage. A historical account of these developments has recently been given (Sneath, 1986). The evident success of such a system in bacteriology has led workers in botany and zoology to take a keen interest and to consider whether similar changes should be introduced in their own fields. This is a heartening development, for imitation is the sincerest form of flattery; recent steps here are reviewed by Hawksworth (1988),Ride (1988), and Hawksworth and Greuter (1989).

The new system led to a considerable number of requests to the Judicial Commission in the first few years to adjudicate on cases that required further attention, and progress reports were therefore made on these (for example, Wayne, 1982; 1986). New advances, particularly in molecular biology, have led to the need to compare older and newer approaches to taxonomy, and inevitably these advances have implications for nomenclature; reports on these (Wayne et al., 1987; Murray el al., 1990) are an important new activity of the ICSB.

The Twelfth International Congress for Microbiology (Munich, 1978)

Only a few changes were made to the Code, mostly of an editorial nature (Drafting Committee, 1978; Holt, 1979; Hill, 1979). The application of Rules 16 and 27, dealing with validation of names effectively published outside the IJSB, was clarified.

A proposal was published (Stanier et al., 1978) that the Cyanobacteria (Blue-Green Algae) should come under the provisions of the Bacteriological Code. This was discussed at length by the Judicial Commission and the ICSB. There are difficulties in reconciling the application of the Bacteriological and Botanical Codes to these organisms, the great majority of which have been studied and named according to botanical precedent. Few of them are yet in culture, and the Botanical Code has not permitted living types (i.e., type cultures). It was therefore decided to refer the matter to the officers of the Botanical Code, with whom discussion continues, and it is hoped that a satisfactory conclusion may be reached in due course. Meanwhile it was noted (Holt, 1979) that workers who consider cyanobacteria to be bacteria may name them in accordance with the Bacteriological Code. As none were to be included in the Approved Lists of Bacterial Names, their nomenclature under the Bacteriological Code would start from names validly published in the IJSB after 1979 under Rules 27 and 28.

A draft of the Approved Lists had been published in the IJSB in 1976 (Ad Hoc Committee, 1976), which initiated widespread consultations in the bacteriological community and resulted in the 1980 Approved Lists.

Thirteenth International Congress of Microbiology (Boston, Massachusetts, 1982)

The Approved Lists of Bacterial Names had been published on 1 January 1980, so there had been two years of experience of the new system of nomenclature. This seemed to be working well, so a number of changes were made to the code to consolidate the system (Rules Revision Committee, 1982;Hill, 1983; Editorial Secretary, 1986). Provisional Rules A1, A2, B1, B2, and B3 were converted to addenda to Rules 33 and 34. Provisions for reviving names in a new combination were clarified (Rule 33d), and the provisions of Rule 18 on monotypes and lectotypes were removed as unnecessary. Minor clarifications of Rules 13 and 28 were made. There were also minor amendments to the ICSB Statutes (Hill, 1983) now that the IAMS had become the IUMS.

Plant-pathogenic bacteria present particular problems about which there had been much informal discussion since 1978. A large number of nomenspecies of these bacteria are now widely regarded as host-adapted pathogenic varieties (pathovars) of relatively few bacterial species. Consequently the Approved Lists did not list most of these nomenspecies, which thus lost standing in nomenclature. There was therefore concern that such species epithets might be revived for quite different bacteria and lead to much confusion in an area of great economic importance. The International Society of Plant Pathologists published a checklist of the earlier nomenspecies and pathovars (Dye et al., 1980) and advised that such names should be revived only for the original bacteria. Sound recommendations were also given on the circumstances in which such revival would be justified. It was also noted that names that did cause confusion could be placed on the list of rejected names by the Judicial Commission, but clearly the smooth operation of the provisions for revived names requires the cooperation of bacteriologists in observing recommendations such as those made by the plant pathologists.

Fourteenth International Congress of Microbiology (Manchester, 1986)

Several changes were made to the Code (Rules Revision Committee, 1985, 1986;Farmer, 1985; Lessel, 1986; Jones, 1987; Hill, 1987). General Consideration 6 was emended to make clear that Opinions of the Judicial Commission do not require approval of the ICSB although the ICSB can rescind them. Citation of subgenera was clarified (Rule 10c). Rule 12a was emended so that it was not necessary for species epithets to refer to a single concept. Rule 24b contains new provisions on priority of names published in the IJSB and its Validation Lists. A new provision was added to Rule 56 which permits the rejection of a name whose application is likely to lead to dangers to health or serious economic consequences (a perilous name). Opinion 58 of the Judicial Commission (see Appendix 5) confirmed that the nomenclatural types in the Approved Lists are to be accepted unless changed by the Commission. A list of all names validly published between 1 January 1980 and 1 January 1985 had been published in the IJSB (Moore et al., 1985).

Fifteenth International Congress of Microbiology (Osaka, 1990)

Only one minor change was made to the Rules (Rule 33b), but a revision of Appendix 9 on Orthography was undertaken (Moore, 1990; MacAdoo, 1990; Wayne, 1991;Goodfellow, 1991). Grateful thanks are due to Professor T. O. MacAdoo for his expert advice on the new Appendix 9; a few changes were made in his draft where conventions of latinization and taxonomic precedent are not wholly concordant.

The Approved Lists were reprinted in 1989 (Skerman_et al,_ 1989), together with a list of names validly published in the IJSB (including names effectively published outside the IJSB but validated in the IJSB Validation Lists) between 1 January 1980 and 1 January 1989 (Moore and Moore, 1989). For the first time all valid bacterial names (except the most recent) are available in two slim volumes (see Appendix 3). The list of names published after 1 January 1980 was compiled by Professors W. E. C. Moore and L. V. H. Moore, to whom grateful thanks are due.

A new edition of the Code was authorized at the Osaka Congress. It is appropriate to record the contribution of the late Dr. S. P. Lapage, who died in 1990 and to whom the revised Code is a fitting memorial. Thanks are particularly due to Dr. L. G. Wayne and Professor W. E. C. Moore for their assistance in preparing the present volume.

May 1991

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