These are the official minutes from the International Committee on Systematic Bacteriology (ICSB) meetings held in Sydney, Australia on August 14 and 17, 1999, during the IXth International Congress of Bacteriology and Applied Microbiology. Key administrative matters included the successful transition of the International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology from the American Society for Microbiology to the Society for General Microbiology as publisher in 1997-1998. The journal published 223 papers in 1998 from scientists in 36 nations, with approximately 70% of newly described bacterial species reported through the journal. The committee unanimously approved renaming the International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria to the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes and renamed the committee itself to the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes. The journal name was changed to International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology effective January 2000 to expand scope beyond bacteria. The Judicial Commission issued two opinions and proposed multiple amendments to the Bacteriological Code, all approved unanimously. New executive board members were elected, and policies were established requiring type strains to be deposited in at least two different culture collections in different countries to ensure strain availability for future research.

Key findings

• The International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology successfully transferred publishers from ASM to SGM in 1997-1998, with improved formatting and sustained publication of approximately 178 new validated bacterial species names annually
• The International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria was renamed to the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes, along with corresponding name changes to ICSB and the journal
• The journal's scope was expanded to include unicellular eukaryotes, reflected in the new name International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology
• Type strain deposition policy was established requiring submission to at least two culture collections in different countries to ensure availability and accessibility
• Molecular techniques led to record numbers of newly described and rearranged bacterial taxa, generating issues with nomenclature that required multiple Bacteriological Code amendments