Abstract
Bacterial taxonomy or systematics may be defined as the scientific study of the diversity of organisms with the ultimate object of characterizing and arranging them in an orderly manner (Trüper and Schleifer, 1991). It comprises the three subdisciplines classification, nomenclature and identification. Classification deals with the orderly arrangements of taxonomic units (taxa) into groups on the basis of similarities or relationships. Nomenclature is the assignment of names to the taxonomic units according to the International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria (Sneath, 1992). Finally, in identification, members of a distinct taxonomic unit are identified on the basis of common characteristic properties which distinguish them from other organisms.
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Schleifer, KH., Ludwig, W. (1994). Molecular Taxonomy: Classification and Identification. In: Priest, F.G., Ramos-Cormenzana, A., Tindall, B.J. (eds) Bacterial Diversity and Systematics. Federation of European Microbiological Societies Symposium Series, vol 75. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1869-3_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1869-3_1
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