Nomenclature and Taxonomy

Nomenclature may cause problems. Occasionally, newly isolated organisms may not be recognised for what they are, and are given a new name. This can cause considerable confusion when the organism is finally correctly identified. 

Taxonomy is the science of classification and has several functions. The first is to describe the species which is the basic taxonomic unit. The second is to catalogue these species into some arrangement enabling the relationships between species to be recognised. A third practical aspect is identification, that is, the matching of an unknown organism with a known species. 

The division between species at the plant and animal levels is generally relatively easy on the basis of their morphology (appearance), although problems can arise in distinguishing between the simpler algae and protozoa. This however is not true with bacteria as the range of distinguishable shapes and sizes is too small. 

Bacteria are therefore classified and identified into strains on the basis of a number of tests e.g. morphological, staining, biochemical, serological). A species may then be defined as a cluster of strains showing a high degree of similarity, but differing from other clusters of strains (species) in a number of characteristics. 

The use of various characteristics carries no guarantee that the tests being used are significant. The classification of bacteria therefore tends to be heavily biased towards the practical aspects of microbiology, such as the identification of medically and industrially important species. 

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Vimses contain either RNA or DNA, and this nucleic acid composition forms the basis for thek classification. Although vimses ate known to infect bactetia, insects, plants, animals, and humans, this discussion is restticted to the important vimses of vertebrates. The relevant vimses ate summarized in Table 2, using the nomenclature and taxonomy recommended by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Vimses (4,5). 

R. M. Filmer, A Catalogue of Nomenclature and Taxonomy In the Living Conidae 1758-1998 Backhuys Publisher Leiden, 2001. 

This had strong theoretical consequences. Because the imperceptible features of chemical substances were not the only relevant consideration, plural ontologies and theoretical commitments could exist within cultures of chemical study, and perceptible features—the taste, smeU and other forms of knowledge which we associate with the sensuous chemist— retained primary significance. So, for many materials, did descriptions on the basis of provenance, though in the reforms of nomenclature and taxonomy many substances came to classified on the basis of their chemical composition, not their other properties. 

Taxonomy The classification, nomenclature, and laboratory identification of organisms (Do not confuse with taxidermy - stuffing dead animals)... 

Several papers on the taxonomy of the Ranunculaceae have been published.2-8 These clarify some of the nomenclatural and taxonomic problems of this Family, particularly of those species found in the eastern and south-eastern United States. 

Denotations and connotations of the term "polymer" and its associated building block, termed "monomer", are probed. The nomenclature previously developed in order to canonically name finite length molecules is extended so as to apply to unlimited repeats of the monomer. A system of taxonomy based on dimension underlies the choice of canonical ordering of "polymers", as well as that aggregation of atoms which lacks the "regularity" to meet the proposed limitation to the definition of the term "polymer" (herein called "multimer") is introduced. The extension from Cartesian nomenclature to spherical nomenclature introduced in Chapter 6 is further developed for "dendritic" molecules. 

Treating chemistry as a unified science, for which there is a comprehensive system of "canonical" names that encompasses each of the historically distinct "fiefdoms" which had evolved their own, often incompatible, rules for taxonomy and nomenclature ... 

At this time it should be noted that in the process of creating such a unified nomenclature, there is the need to re-examine and occasionally to reformulate the geometrical foundations upon which the present understanding of chemistry is based. This sometimes means viewing from different perspectives some of the "elementary" physics that underlie chemical taxonomy. 

Unlike the disjoint sets of approaches to taxonomy and nomenclature for "organic chemistry" vs. "inorganic chemistry" vs. "polymer chemistry", etc., which form the cornerstone of all of the various nomenclature systems in common usage today, a common graph theory based, bi-parametric, alternating code of atoms and bonds that is equally applicable to each of these individual domains is proposed. In this system the detailed formula will be all of the name that is needed. Advantages to such an approach include ... 

D. M. Henderson and H. T. Prentice, International Directory of Botanical Gardens. Regnum Vegetabile, Vol. 95. International Bureau for Plant Taxonomy and Nomenclature, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 1977. 

Van Etten JL (1995) Phycodnaviridae. In Murphy FA, Fauquet CM, Mayo MA, Jarvis AW, Ghabrial SA, Summers MD, Martelli GP, Bishop DHL (eds) The classification and nomenclature of viruses. Sixth Report of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses Archives of Virology. Springer Verlag, Wien/ New York... 

They also contend that while this classification would not cause any conceptual or practical problems with regard to taxonomy and/or nomenclature, it would, however, allow for ease of communication and differentiation of sterile cultivars and fertile wild populations (Lebot and Levesque, 1996). 

The taxonomy and nomenclature of the genus Narcissus is complex because of its very varied wild populations, its suitability for hybridation and also for historical reasons because many descriptions of taxons have been based on garden specimens, several of which were probably of hybrid origen. 

Gams W (1989) Taxonomy and Nomenclature of Microdochium nivale (Fusarium nivale). In Chelkowski J (ed.) Fusarium Mycotoxins, Taxonomy and Pathogenicity, p. 195. Elsevier, Amsterdam... 

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