Bacterial taxonomy

LifeDomainKingdomPhylumClassOrderFamilyGenusSpecies
The hierarchy of biological classification's eight major taxonomic ranks. Intermediate minor rankings are not shown.

Bacterial taxonomy is subfield of taxonomy devoted to the classification of bacteria specimens into taxonomic ranks.

In the scientific classification established by Carl Linnaeus,[1] each species is assigned to a genus resulting in a two-part name. This name denotes the two lowest levels in a hierarchy of ranks, increasingly larger groupings of species based on common traits. Of these ranks, domains are the most general level of categorization. Presently, scientists classify all life into just three domains, Eukaryotes, Bacteria and Archaea.[2]

Bacterial taxonomy is the classification of strains within the domain Bacteria into hierarchies of similarity. This classification is similar to that of plants, mammals, and other taxonomies. However, biologists specializing in different areas have developed differing taxonomic conventions over time. For example, bacterial taxonomists name types based on descriptions of strains. Zoologists among others use a type specimen instead.

  1. ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1735). Systemae Naturae, sive regna tria naturae, systematics proposita per classes, ordines, genera & species.
  2. ^ Woese, C. R.; Kandler, O.; Wheelis, M. L. (1990). "Towards a natural system of organisms: proposal for the domains Archaea, Bacteria, and Eucarya". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 87 (12): 4576–4579. Bibcode:1990PNAS...87.4576W. doi:10.1073/pnas.87.12.4576. PMC 54159. PMID 2112744.