Abstract
Minute 1. Call to order
The meeting was called to order by the Chair, E. Conway de Macario, at the occasion of the 103rd General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology at 12 : 00 on 19 May 2003 in the Grand Hyatt Washington, Washington Boardroom, Washington, DC, USA.
Minute 2. Record of attendance
The members present were J. Chun, E. Conway de Macario (Chair), M.-C. Lai, J. Maupin-Furlow and B. Ollivier (Secretary).
Minute 3. Approval of agenda
The written agenda was presented and approved.
Minute 4. Nomenclature
It was agreed that the name methanoarchaea was preferred to methanogenic bacteria or methanogens' when referring to micro-organisms that produce methane.
Minute 5. Minimal standards
It was agreed that the description of a novel species or genus of methanoarchaea should be made in accordance with minimal standards as proposed by D. Boone & W. B. Whitman [Int J Syst Bacteriol 38 (1988), 212219]. The importance of the development of new genomic tools for taxonomic purposes was discussed.
Minute 5. Web site
It was agreed that the web page for our subcommittee should now be online (). The current membership and recent developments on the taxonomy of methanoarchaea should be recorded on this web page. Members of the subcommittee were very grateful to R. Dunford for his help in establishing a web site for the subcommittee. This web site includes, at present, the name and addresses of all members and the reference to the paper on minimal standards to describe novel methanoarchaea. The updated classification of methanoarchaea will be added in the future.
Minute 6. Current membership
The current membership of the subcommittee is S. Asakawa (Nagoya, Japan), B. Biavati (Bologna, Italy), D. Boone (Portland, OR, USA), E. Conway de Macario (Chair; Albany, NY, USA), J. G. Ferry (University Park, PA, USA), W. J. Jones (Athens, GA, USA), J. Keltjens (Nijmegen, The Netherlands), Y. Koga (Kitakyushu, Japan), M.-C. Lai (Taichung, Taiwan), J. A. Maupin-Furlow (Gainesville, FL, USA), T. L. Miller (Slingerlands, NY, USA), B. Ollivier (Secretary; Marseilles, France), G. B. Patel (Ottawa, Canada), K. Sandman (Columbus, OH, USA) and W. B. Whitman (Athens, GA, USA).
Minute 7. Proposed date for the next meeting
The next meeting of the subcommittee will be held at the 104th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in New Orleans, LA, USA, 2327 May 2004.
Minute 8. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 14 : 00 on 19 May 2003.