Proposed minimal standards for describing new taxa of aerobic, endospore-forming bacteria

1 Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University, Cowcaddens Road, Glasgow G4 0BA, UK 2 CEA Cadarache, DSV/IBEB/SBVME, LEMIRE, Bât. 161, F-13108 St Paul-lez-Durance Cedex, France 3 Molecular Biology, Biosciences Group, dstl Porton Down, Building 384, Room 21, Salisbury SP4 0JQ, UK 4 Institut für Bakteriologie, Mykologie & Hygiene, Veterinärmedizinische Universität, Veterinärplatz 1, A-1210 Vienna, Austria 5 Laboratorium voor Microbiologie, Universiteit Gent, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Gent, Belgium 6 DSMZ – Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH, Inhoffenstraße 7B, D-38124 Braunschweig, Germany 7 Instituut voor Landbouw en Visserijonderzoek (ILVO), Technology and Food Sciences, Brusselsesteenweg 370, B-9090 Melle, Belgium 8 Institut für Angewandte Mikrobiologie Fachbereich Agrarwissenschaften, Ökotrophologie und Umweltmanagement, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26–32, D-35392 Giessen, Germany 9 Laboratório de Fisiologia Bacteriana, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz. Av. Brasil, 4365, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21405-900, Brazil 10 Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology, University of Helsinki, PO Box 56, Biocenter 1A Viikinkaari 9, FIN-00014, Finland 11 Instituto de Microbiologia Prof. Paulo de Góes, CCS - Centro de Ciências da Saúde - Bloco I, Avenida Carlos Chagas Filho, 373, Cidade Universitária, Ilha do Fundão, CEP 21941-902, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 12 Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Seville, E-41012 Seville, Spain Correspondence N. A. Logan nalo{at}gcal.ac.uk Minimal standards for describing new taxa within the aerobic endospore-forming bacteria are proposed, following Recommendation 30b of the Bacteriological Code (1990 Revision). These minimal standards are recommended as guidelines to assist authors in the preparation of descriptions for novel taxa. They encourage broad polyphasic characterization and the construction of descriptions that are practically useful in routine diagnostic laboratories. The proposals have been endorsed by the Subcommittee on the Taxonomy of the Genus Bacillus and Related Organisms of the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes. A detailed listing of the aerobic, endospore-forming bacteria, together with a brief historical account of the taxonomy of these organisms, and a list of relevant curated 16S rRNA gene sequences of aerobic endospore-formers and relatives are available as sup