Judicial Commission of the International Committee on Systematic Bacteriology; IXth International (IUMS) Congress of Bacteriology and Applied Microbiology

These are the minutes from the Judicial Commission meetings of the International Committee on Systematic Bacteriology (ICSB) held in Sydney, Australia in August 1999. The meetings focused on proposed amendments to the International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria (ICNB). Key decisions included renaming the ICNB to the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes (ICNP) to encompass bacteria, archaea, and cyanobacteria. The Commission approved numerous procedural clarifications regarding bacterial nomenclature, including standardization of species descriptions through a 'protologue' format, rules for type strain designation and deposition in culture collections, and definitions of synonymy terminology. Amendments addressed orthographic corrections, publication definitions, priority determination when names share identical dates, and guidelines for naming organisms after personal names. The Commission also reviewed pending Requests for Opinions on taxonomic disputes, including cases involving Thermodesulfobacterium, Lactobacillus panis, and Halorubrum trapanicum. The journal International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology reported strong growth in submissions and geographical diversity among contributors, with Europe providing most accepted papers.

Key findings

• The International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria was renamed to the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes (ICNP) to include bacteria, archaea, and cyanobacteria under one nomenclatural code.
• New standardized 'protologue' format requirements were established for describing bacterial taxa, requiring clear statement of novelty, etymology, taxon properties, and type strain information.
• Type strains must now be deposited in at least two publicly accessible culture collections in different countries, with stricter requirements implemented after publication of the accepted minutes.
• Orthographic and grammatical corrections to established bacterial names on approved lists were generally prohibited to maintain nomenclatural stability, with future submissions requiring etymological review.
• Clarifications were made to priority determination rules, publication definitions, and synonymy terminology to reduce ambiguity in bacterial nomenclature.