Bacterial names

This section covers:

International standards and resources

The International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes oversees the nomenclature of prokaryotes and revisions to the International code of nomenclature of prokaryotes (the Prokaryotic Code), which sets out the rules for the naming of bacteria. Names can be checked on the Approved Lists of Bacterial Names, List of Prokaryotic Names with Standing in Nomenclature, Taxonomic Outline of Bacteria and Archaea and Prokaryotic Nomenclature Up-to-date database.

The World Health Organization publication Antigenic formulae of the Salmonella serovars (9th edition, 2007) gives detailed nomenclature information for Salmonella serovars.

For those writing scholarly articles, the instructions to authors for the journal Clinical and Vaccine Immunology provide further advice and references.

Australian conventions and resources

In Australia, the naming of bacteria complies with the Prokaryotic Code.

Terms to watch out for:

bug, germ, microbe, microorganism

See all terms

Higher taxonomic bacterial names

The Bacteriological Code regulates the naming of taxonomic ranks from class to subspecies. As for plants, names of orders end in ales, names of suborders end in ineae, and family names end in aceae. Names of classes have variable suffixes. Names at all taxonomic ranks are presented in italics:

Bacteria [kingdom]     Proteobacteria [phylum]     Gammaproteobacteria [class]     Enterobacterales [order]    Enterobacteriaceae [family]     Salmonella [genus]

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Authors of bacterial names

Family names of authors are not abbreviated. They are followed by the year of valid publication. No punctuation is used:

Salmonella Lignieres 1900

Campylobacter upsaliensis Sandstedt and Ursing 1991

[and, not & or et]

Listeria marthii Graves et al 2010

[et al can be used if there are more than 2 authors, or list all authors]

Chlamydia psittaci (Lillie 1930) Page 1968

[Rickettsia psittaci Lillie 1930 was transferred to Chlamydia by Page in 1968; author of original name is retained in parentheses, and author of new name is added, including year.]

Salmonella enterica (ex Kauffmann and Edwards 1952) Le Minor and Popoff 1987

[Name was effectively published by Kauffmann and Edwards, but only validly published by Le Minor and Popoff; set ex in italic.]

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Infraspecific bacterial names

Caution! Biovar, serovar and pathovar were previously biotype, serotype and pathotype.

Subspecies is the lowest rank dealt with by the Bacteriological Code. The rank ‘subsp.’ is included in the name, as for plants:

Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica

Other ranks include biovar (bv.), serovar (sv.), pathovar (pv.), phagovar and special form (f. sp.). These taxa may be designated in a number of ways, including by Latin words, vernacular names, numbers, letters or formulae:

Xanthomonas translucens f. sp. cerealis     Staphylococcus aureus phagovar 42D

The names of serovars begin with an initial capital letter and are shown in roman type. Include the word ‘serovar’ or ‘sv.’ with the species name the first time the name occurs in the text:

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium     Salmonella enterica sv. Typhimurium

Afterwards, you can omit the species name and ‘serovar’ or ‘sv.’, but the genus name should remain in full:

Salmonella Typhimurium   not   S. Typhimurium

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