Abstract:
Over the last fifteen years, genomics has become fully integrated into prokaryotic systematics. The genomes
of most type strains have been sequenced, genome sequence similarity is widely used for delineation
of species, and phylogenomic methods are commonly used for classification of higher
taxonomic ranks. Additionally, environmental genomics has revealed a vast diversity of as-yetuncultivated
taxa. In response to these developments, a new code of nomenclature, the Code of
Nomenclature of Prokaryotes Described from Sequence Data (SeqCode), has been developed over the last
two years to allow naming of Archaea and Bacteria using DNA sequences as the nomenclatural types.
The SeqCode also allows naming of cultured organisms, including fastidious prokaryotes that cannot
be deposited into culture collections. Several simplifications relative to the International Code of
Nomenclature of Prokaryotes (ICNP) are implemented to make nomenclature more accessible, easier to
apply and more readily communicated. By simplifying nomenclature with the goal of a unified classification,
inclusive of both cultured and uncultured taxa, the SeqCode will facilitate the naming of taxa in
every biome on Earth, encourage the isolation and characterization of as-yet-uncultivated taxa, and promote
synergies between the ecological, environmental, physiological, biochemical, and molecular biological
disciplines to more fully describe prokaryotes.
