Three-letter code for abbreviations of generic names
Acknowledgements
The author is very grateful to Dr Aharon Oren (Division of Microbial and Molecular Ecology, the Institute of Life Sciences, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem) for his helpful comments.
Contents:
- Introduction
- Abbreviations proposed by the Subcommittee on the taxonomy of Phototrophic Bacteria
- Abbreviations proposed by the Subcommittee on the taxonomy of the family Halobacteriaceae
Introduction
Abbreviations of generic names are not covered by the Rules of the Bacteriological Code (1990 Revision). However, the Chapter 4 (Advisory Notes) provides some recommendations:
- The name of a genus should be spelled without abbreviation the first time it is used with a specific epithet in a publication and in the summary of that publication.
- In a series of species names all belonging to the same genus, it is customary to abbreviate the name of the genus in all but the first species, even if it is the first mention of the succeeding species.
- Later use of the name of the species previously cited usually has the name of the genus abbreviated, commonly to the first letter of the generic name.
- If, however, species are listed belonging to two or more genera which have the same initial letter, the generic name should be used in full.
In publications dealing with species of different genera having the same first letter, the use of unabbreviated generic names increases the length of papers and the use of the one-letter abbreviation is a source of confusion. To avoid such problems, the "Subcommittee on the taxonomy of Phototrophic Bacteria" recommended the use of three-letter abbreviations in cases where more than one genus is treated in a publication or chapter. Alternatively, the genus name may be spelled out completely. However, single-letter abbreviations in many cases do not accurately define the genus and should avoided, unless no doubt is left on the genus name abbreviated.
In 1997, 2000, 2003, 2004, and 2007 this Subcommittee established a list of three-letter abbreviations for genera of the anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria.
In 1999, 2002 and 2007, the "Subcommittee on the taxonomy of the family Halobacteriaceae" also recommended the use of three-letter abbreviations for genera of the family Halobacteriaceae.
The proposals of these two subcommittees should be adopted by authors, reviewers and journal editors and they are listed below.
References:
IMHOFF (J.F.) and MADIGAN (M.T.): International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes - Subcommittee on the taxonomy of phototrophic bacteria. Minutes of the meetings, 28 August 2000, Barcelona, Spain. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol., 2002, 52, 2335-2336.
Minutes of the Meetings, 28 August 2000, Barcelona, Spain in IJSEM Online
IMHOFF (J.F.) and MADIGAN (M.T.): International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes - Subcommitteee on the taxonomy of phototrophic bacteria. Minutes of the meetings, 27 August 2003, Tokyo, Japan. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol., 2004, 54, 1001-1003.
Original article in IJSEM Online
LAPAGE (S.P.), SNEATH (P.H.A.), LESSEL (E.F.), SKERMAN (V.B.D.), SEELIGER (H.P.R.) and CLARK (W.A.): International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria (1990 Revision). American Society for Microbiology, Washington, D.C., 1992.
MADIGAN (M.T.) and IMHOFF (J.F.): International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes Subcommittee on the taxonomy of phototrophic bacteria. Minutes of the meetings, 29 August 2006, Pau, France. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol., 2007, 57, 1169-1171.
Original article in IJSEM Online
OREN (A.): Personal communication (November 25, 2002).
OREN (A.) and VENTOSA (A.): International Committee on Systematic Bacteriology - Subcommittee on the taxonomy of Halobacteriaceae. Minutes of the meetings, 16 August 1999, Sydney, Australia. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol., 2000, 50, 1405-1407.
Minutes of the Meetings, 16 August 1999, Sydney, Australia in IJSEM Online
OREN (A.) and VENTOSA (A.): International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes - Subcommittee on the taxonomy of Halobacteriaceae. Minutes of the meetings, 30 July 2002, Paris, France. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol., 2002, 52, 2343-2344.
Minutes of the Meetings, 30 July 2002, Paris, France in IJSEM Online
OREN (A.) and VENTOSA (A.): International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes Subcommittee on the taxonomy of the Halobacteriaceae. Minutes of the meetings, 25 July 2005, San Francisco, CA, USA. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol., 2005, 55, 2637-2638.
Original article in IJSEM Online
TRÜPER (H.G.) and MADIGAN (M.T.): International Committee on Systematic Bacteriology - Subcommittee on the taxonomy of phototrophic bacteria. Minutes of the meetings, 10 September 1997, Vienna, Austria. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol., 1999, 49, 925-926.
Minutes of the Meetings, 10 September 1997, Vienna, Austria in IJSEM Online
OREN (A.), VREELAND (R.H.) AND VENTOSA (A.): International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes Subcommittee on the taxonomy of Halobacteriaceae and subcommittee on the taxonomy of Halomonadaceae. Minutes of the joint open meeting, 3 September 2007, Colchester, UK. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol., 2007, 57, 2975-2978.
Minutes of the joint open meeting, 3 September 2007, Colchester, UK in IJSEM Online
Contents
Abbreviations proposed by the Subcommittee on the taxonomy of Phototrophic Bacteria
*: In the "Minutes of the meetings, 27 August 2003, Tokyo, Japan 2003", published in the May 2004 issue of the IJSEM [1], the three-letter abbreviation for the genus Rhodobaca is erroneously cited as Rbc [2]. - References: (1) IMHOFF (J.F.) and MADIGAN (M.T.): International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes - Subcommitteee on the taxonomy of phototrophic bacteria. Minutes of the meetings, 27 August 2003, Tokyo, Japan. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol., 2004, 54, 1001-1003. (2) IMHOFF (J.F.): Personal communication (May 13, 2004). (3) Erratum in IJSEM Online. (4) IMHOFF (J.F.) and MADIGAN (M.T.): Erratum. International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes Subcommittee on the taxonomy of phototrophic bacteria. Minutes of the meetings, 27 August 2003, Tokyo, Japan. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol., 2004, 54, 1907.
Minutes of the meetings, 27 August 2003, Tokyo, Japan in IJSEM Online
**: In 1997, the "Subcommittee on the taxonomy of phototrophic bacteria" proposed the abbreviation Rdv [1]. In the "Minutes of the meetings, 27 August 2003, Tokyo, Japan 2003", published in the May 2004 issue of the IJSEM, this abbreviation is erroneously cited as Rvu [2, 3]. - References: (1) TRÜPER (H.G.) and MADIGAN (M.T.): International Committee on Systematic Bacteriology - Subcommittee on the taxonomy of phototrophic bacteria. Minutes of the meetings, 10 September 1997, Vienna, Austria. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol., 1999, 49, 925-926. (2) IMHOFF (J.F.) and MADIGAN (M.T.): International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes - Subcommitteee on the taxonomy of phototrophic bacteria. Minutes of the meetings, 27 August 2003, Tokyo, Japan. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol., 2004, 54, 1001-1003. (3) IMHOFF (J.F.): Personal communication (May 13, 2004). (4) Erratum in IJSEM Online.
Minutes of the Meetings, 10 September 1997, Vienna, Austria in IJSEM Online
Minutes of the meetings, 27 August 2003, Tokyo, Japan in IJSEM Online
Contents
Abbreviations proposed by the Subcommittee on the taxonomy of the family Halobacteriaceae
| Names of genera | Recommended three-letter abbreviations |
| Haladaptatus | Hap. |
| Halalkalicoccus | Hac. |
| Haloarcula | Har. |
| Halobacterium | Hbt. |
| Halobaculum | Hbl. |
| Halobiforma | Hbf. |
| Halococcus | Hcc. |
| Haloferax | Hfx. |
| Halogeometricum | Hgm. |
| Halomicrobium | Hmc. |
| Halopiger | Hpg. |
| Haloplanus | Hpn. |
| Haloquadratum | Hqr. |
| Halorhabdus | Hrd. |
| Halorubrum | Hrr. |
| Halosimplex | Hsx. |
| Halostagnicola | Hst. |
| Haloterrigena | Htg. |
| Halovivax | Hvx. |
| Natrialba | Nab. |
| Natrinema | Nnm. |
| Natronobacterium | Nbt. |
| Natronococcus | Ncc. |
| Natronolimnobius | Nln. |
| Natronomonas | Nmn. |
| Natronorubrum | Nrr. |
