Roadmap for naming uncultivated Archaea and Bacteria.
Murray AEDivision of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV, USA. alison.murray@dri.edu.
Freudenstein JDepartment of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Gribaldo SEvolutionary Biology of the Microbial Cell, Department of Microbiology, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
Hatzenpichler RDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Center for Biofilm Engineering, and Thermal Biology Institute, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA.
Hugenholtz PAustralian Centre for Ecogenomics, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
Kämpfer PDepartment of Applied Microbiology, Justus-Liebig-Universität, Giessen, Germany.
Konstantinidis KTSchool of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Lane CEDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, USA.
Papke RTDepartment of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.
Parks DHAustralian Centre for Ecogenomics, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
Rossello-Mora RMediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies, CSIC-UIB, Illes Balears, Spain.
Stott MBSchool of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Sutcliffe ICDepartment of Applied Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Thrash JCDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Venter SNDepartment of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Whitman WBDepartment of Microbiology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
Acinas SGDepartment of Marine Biology and Oceanography, Institut de Ciènces del Mar, CSIC, Barcelona, Spain.
Amann RIMax Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany.
Anantharaman KDepartment of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
Armengaud JCEA Technological Innovations for Detection and Diagnosis Laboratory, CEA Pharmacology and Immunoanalysis Unit (SPI), Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France.
Baker BJDepartment of Marine Science, Marine Science Institute, University of Texas at Austin, Port Aransas, TX, USA.
Barco RADepartment of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Bode HBMolecular Biotechnology, Department of Biosciences and Buchmann Institute for Molecular Life Sciences (BMLS), Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Boyd ESDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA.
Brady CLUniversity of the West of England, Bristol, England.
Carini PDepartment of Environmental Science, University of Arizona, Tuscon, AZ, USA.
Chain PSGBioscience Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA.
Colman DRDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA.
DeAngelis KMMicrobiology Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA.
de Los Rios MANational Museum of Natural Sciences, CSIC, Madrid, Spain.
Estrada-de Los Santos PEscuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico.
Dunlap CANational Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, Crop Bioprotection Research Unit, Peoria, IL, USA.
Eisen JADepartment of Evolution and Ecology, Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
Emerson DBigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, East Boothbay, ME, USA.
Ettema TJGLaboratory of Microbiology, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
Eveillard DLS2N, Université de Nantes, CNRS, Nantes, France.
Girguis PRDepartment of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Hentschel UGEOMAR-Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, RD3-Marine Ecology, RU-Marine Microbiology, Kiel, Germany.
Hollibaugh JTDepartment of Marine Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
Hug LADepartment of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada.
Inskeep WPDepartment of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA.
Ivanova EPSchool of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Klenk HPSchool of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Li WJSchool of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Lloyd KGDepartment of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA.
Löffler FEDepartments of Microbiology and Civil & Environmental Engineering, Center for Environmental Biotechnology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA.
Makhalanyane TPCentre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics, Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Moser DPDivision of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Las Vegas, NV, USA.
Nunoura TResearch Center for Bioscience and Nanoscience (CeBN), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, Japan.
Palmer MSchool of Life Sciences, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USA.
Parro VAstrobiology Center (CSIC-INTA), Madrid, Spain.
Pedrós-Alió CNational Biotechnology Center, Cantoblanco, Madrid, Spain.
Probst AJDepartment of Chemistry, Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
Smits THMEnvironmental Genomics and Systems Biology Research Group, Institute for Environment and Natural Resources, Zürich University for Applied Sciences (ZHAW), Wädenswil, Switzerland.
Steen ADDepartments of Microbiology and Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA.
Steenkamp ETDepartment of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Spang ADepartment for Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Den Burg, the Netherlands.
Stewart FJDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA.
Tiedje JMCenter for Microbial Ecology, Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
Vandamme PDepartment of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium.
Wagner MCentre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Wang FPInternational Center for Deep Life Investigation, School of Oceanography and School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
English
The assembly of single-amplified genomes (SAGs) and metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) has led to a surge in genome-based discoveries of members affiliated with Archaea and Bacteria, bringing with it a need to develop guidelines for nomenclature of uncultivated microorganisms. The International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes (ICNP) only recognizes cultures as 'type material', thereby preventing the naming of uncultivated organisms. In this Consensus Statement, we propose two potential paths to solve this nomenclatural conundrum. One option is the adoption of previously proposed modifications to the ICNP to recognize DNA sequences as acceptable type material; the other option creates a nomenclatural code for uncultivated Archaea and Bacteria that could eventually be merged with the ICNP in the future. Regardless of the path taken, we believe that action is needed now within the scientific community to develop consistent rules for nomenclature of uncultivated taxa in order to provide clarity and stability, and to effectively communicate microbial diversity.