Summary auto-generated
This document records the minutes from the Judicial Commission of the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes (ICSP) during meetings held in Paris in July and August 2002. The Commission, comprising 16 voting members, addressed numerous matters related to bacterial nomenclature and taxonomy. Key activities included reviewing and correcting previous meeting minutes, appointing a nominating committee for leadership succession, and voting on six Requests for Opinion regarding bacterial taxa nomenclature. The Commission proposed several amendments to the Bacteriological Code, including modifications to rules governing ordinal adjectives in names, establishing regulations for the Candidatus category, and clarifying orthographic standards for chemical terms in prokaryote names. Significantly, the Commission resolved the long-standing nomenclatural issue with Salmonella by designating Salmonella enterica (rather than S. choleraesuis) as the type species of the genus, with strain LT2 as the type strain. This decision formally integrated the widely-used Le Minor and Popoff nomenclatural system with validly published names. The Commission also addressed practical concerns including requirements for type strain deposits in multiple international culture collections and problems associated with patent strains serving as nomenclatural types.
Key findings
- The Judicial Commission formally designated Salmonella enterica as the type species of genus Salmonella with strain LT2 as the type strain, resolving decades-old nomenclatural inconsistencies
- Amendments to the Bacteriological Code were adopted regarding ordinal adjective formation, connecting vowels in chemical names, and the formal recognition of the Candidatus category
- Type strains must be deposited in at least two different internationally recognized culture collections in different countries to be acceptable for new taxa
- The Commission decided that strain deposits made solely for patent purposes should not serve as nomenclatural type strains
- Proposals to modify principal rules and recommendations of the Code were evaluated, with some deferred to the next congress in 2005
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Abstract
B. J. Tindall presented the draft of the newly revised Code that will be sent out to all Commissioners in the near future. The Commission expressed the strong desire to have the new edition of the Code available in written form as well as on the Internet as soon as possible. The appropriate change of wording in the Statutes of the ICSP (Bacteriological Code, 1990 edition, pp. 139158) and its approval are pending. The complete revision of Appendix 9 by H. G. Trüper was delayed due to an unforeseen severe illness. Its draft will be presented in writing or by email to the Judicial Commission before the next IUMS Congress. The current editors of the Code are B. J. Tindall, J. P. Euzéby and H. G. Trüper.
Minute 6. Appointment of a nominating committee.
A nominating committee consisting of P. De Vos, D. Labeda, E. Stackebrandt and H. G. Trüper was unanimously appointed by the Judicial Commission (and the ICSP Executive Board) to search for replacements for the members of the 19th Class of Commissioners who will have completed their terms at the end of the Paris meeting as well as for replacements within the ICSP Executive Board. The nominating committee shall present its list of proposals to the ICSP for a vote.
Minute 7. Opinions awarded since the Sydney meeting.
The Judicial Commission consisted of 16 voting members (M. Goodfellow, at the same time elected Commissioner and ex-officio member of the Judicial Commission, had but one vote because no deputy had been proposed). A vote by letter ballot has been carried out by the Chairman and was completed in Paris on the following six Requests for an Opinion.
(1) Rejection of the species Methanothrix soehngenii and the genus Methanothrix as nomina confusa, and transfer of Methanothrix thermophila to the genus Methanosaeta as Methanosaeta thermophila comb. nov. [Boone & Kamagata, Int J Syst Bacteriol 48 (1998), 10791080]. The Judicial Commission voted with 14 votes in favour of this request, one against and one abstention. However, this vote failed to take into consideration that the wording of Rule 31a had been changed in such a way that this rule no longer makes references to mixed cultures. In addition, many authors have used data from the type strain of Methanothrix soehngenii (which is deposited in the DSMZ) in such a way as to imply that the presence of more than one species in the culture did not adversely affect the data collected. Both facts call into question the interpretation used by Patel [Int J Syst Bacteriol 42 (1992), 324326] and Boone & Kamagata [Int J Syst Bacteriol 48 (1998), 10791080]. In light of these facts further consideration is required by the Judicial Commission before an Opinion can be issued. The conclusions will be formulated as Opinion 75 and reported on in due course.