TAXONOMY &

CLASSIFICATION
by
R.Varidianto Yudo T., dr., MKes
HISTORY

• The scope of the bacterial world once

seemed much simpler than it does now.
During the mid- to late- 1800, most
known bacteria could be neatly covered by
a few generic names. Spherical bacteria
were placed in the genera Micrococcus,
Streptococcus or Staphylococcus ; and
rod-shaped bacteria were assigned to
either the genus Bacterium or Bacillus.
• If bacteria had the shape of a curved rod,
they were put in the genus Vibrio, and if
they were spiral, they were placed in
either the genus Spirilium or Spirochaeta.
Since very little was known then about the
biochemical characteristics of these
bacteria, and the Gram stain had not yet
been applied as a general classification
tool, their morphology was the primary
method of identification.
• As a result, bacteria that we now know
are very different often had the same
generic name. Consider that Escherichia
coli was once called Bacterium coli;
Pseudomonas aeruginosa was Bacterium
aeruginosa, and Streptococcus lactis was
Bacterium lactis, even though the first two
are rods and the last is a coccus.
• Present classification schemes include over
1,000 genera, and barterial identification
is based on hundreds of characteristics.
Although more than 5,000 species are
presently known, new ones are discovered
every year. The recent increase in new
species is probably due in part to an
improvement in identification techniques.
Most bacteriologists feel that we have only
scratched the surface, and that myriads of
bacteria remain to be discovered.
• You will notice that certain generic names
appear capitalized and uncapitillized. For
example, the word Staphylococcus as
shown here refers to a particular genus of
coccus-shaped bacteria, but when the
word appears uncapitalized, unitalicized,
or in the plural (staphylococci), it is a
general way of designating the members
of that genus or of describing an
arrangement or cell type.
• This same usage is true of the use of
streptococci, micrococci, mycobacteria,
pseudomonads, and clostridia. Likewise,
Bacillus and Spirillum refer to genera, and
bacillus and spirillum to shapes.
TERMS
• The science of classification, especially the
classification of living forms, is called
taxonomy (from the Greek for orderly
arrangement).
• The objective of taxonomy is to classify
living organisms-that is, to establish the
relationships between one group of
organisms and another and to
differentiate between them.
• Classification, nomenclature, and
identification are the three separate but
interrelated areas of taxonomy.
• Classification can be defined as the
arrangement of organisms into taxonomic
groups (taxa) on the basis of similarities
or relationships
• Nomenclature is naming an organism by
international rules according to its
characteristics.
• Identification refers to the practical use
of a classification scheme: (1) to isolate
and distinguish desirable organisms from
undesirable ones; (2) to verify the
authenticity or special properties of a
culture; or, in a clinical setting, (3) to
isolate and identify the causative agent of
a disease.
 Taxonomic Criteria and
Methods for Classifying and
Identifying Bacteria
Bergey's Manual
• Bergey's Manual categorizes bacteria into
taxa based on rRNA sequences
• Bergey's Manual of Systematic
Bacteriology is the standard reference on
bacterial classification.
• Bergey's Manual of Determinative
Bacteriology is the standard reference for
laboratory identification of bacteria
• Bergey's Manual of Determinative
Bacteriology does not classify bacteria
according to evolutionary relatedness but
instead provides identification
(determinative) schemes based on such
criteria as cell wall composition,
morphology, differential staining, oxygen
requirement, and biochemical testing.
Methods for Classifying and
Identifying
• Dichotomous Keys are used for the
identification of organismes based on
successive questions, and each question
has two possible answer.
• Cladograms are maps that show
evolutionary (phylogenetic) relationship
among organisms, usually using rRNA
sequencing.
Dichotomous Keys
Cladograms
NOMENCLATURE
 Every organism is assigned two named, or
a binomial. These names are the genus
name and specific epithet (species), and
both names are printed underlined or
italicized. The genus name is always
capitalized and is always a noun. The
species name is lowercase and is
usually an adjective. Because this system
gives two names to each organism, the
system is called binomial nomenclature.
Taxonomy of Viruses

• Universal System of Virus Taxonomy

 Order : ~ ales
 Family : ~ viridae
 Subfamily : ~ virinae
 Genus : ~ virus
• Only one order has currently been defined
: Mononegavirales
• By 2000, the International Committee
on Taxonomy of Viruses had organized
more than 4000 animal and plant viruses
into 56 families, 9 subfamilies, and 233
genera, with hundreds of viruses still
unassigned. Currently, 24 families contain
viruses that infect humans and animals.