MBIO 3470 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Pseudomonadaceae, Proteobacteria, Cistron
31 Jan 2018
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Document Summary
A fundamental concept of taxonomy is that a practical system that serves the user should be chosen. In order to respond to the modern developments in microbial taxonomy, the concept of a (cid:862)pol(cid:455)phasic(cid:863) ta(cid:454)o(cid:374)o(cid:373)(cid:455) has been developed. The major emphasis of the polyphasic system is to establish a framework of phylogenetic groupings and to delineate subsequently these groupings based on suitable phenotypic characteristics. In order to allow reliable and manageable identification and classification, decisions about the rank of an organism in a hierarchical system are made on the basis of contributions of genotypic and phenotypic properties that distinguish it from neighboring groups. The significance of properties in defining ranks has changed often and will continue to change when new insights into the natural relationships are made available. For example, the use of phototrophy or gliding motility to describe order and families has recently been changed to the use of characters suitable for describing genera and species.
