These are the official minutes from the Judicial Commission of the International Committee on Systematic Bacteriology meetings held in Prague on July 2 and 6, 1994. The Commission addressed several key nomenclatural issues affecting bacterial taxonomy. Discussions included a proposal to designate Salmonella enterica as the type species of Salmonella, amendments to the Bacteriological Code regarding nomenclature for all prokaryotes including Archaea and Bacteria, and introduction of a new nomenclatural concept called "Candidatus" for putative taxa that cannot be cultured and lack type strains. The Commission also considered standardization of type strain deposition in recognized culture collections, established a Rules Revision Committee to address emerging issues, and acknowledged publication of taxonomic opinions. Administrative matters included recognizing retiring commissioners and welcoming newly appointed members to maintain continuity of the Commission's work in bacterial nomenclature and taxonomy.

Key findings

• The Commission recommended amending the Bacteriological Code to clarify that nomenclature applies to all prokaryotes including Bacteria, Archaea, and other groups
• A new nomenclatural category called 'Candidatus' was approved for provisional naming of unculturable organisms with available sequence data but no type strains
• A Rules Revision Committee was established to address issues related to the Candidatus concept, code amendments, and type strain deposition requirements
• The Commission confirmed Agrobacterium tumefaciens as the type species of genus Agrobacterium, rejecting claims it was a junior synonym
• Recommendation 30a regarding mandatory deposition of type strains in recognized culture collections was proposed to become a formal Rule