Selenocysteine-using Bacteria
Escherichia coli
- Named by: The genus Escherichia is named after Theodor Escherich (1857–1911), a German-Austrian pediatrician who first described the organism in 1885.
- “coli” means “of the colon” in Latin, referring to its habitat in the large intestine.
Clostridium spp.
- Named by: From Greek kloster (“spindle”), describing the spindle-like shape of their endospores.
- First described by: Prazmowski in 1880.
- The genus name is descriptive rather than honoring a person.
Treponema pallidum
- Named by: From Greek trepo (“to turn”) + nema (“thread”), for the spiral shape of the cells.
- pallidum means “pale” in Latin, referring to the faint staining under light microscopy.
- First described by Schaudinn and Hoffmann in 1905 as the cause of syphilis.
Pyrrolysine-using Bacteria
Desulfitobacterium hafniense
- Named by:
- Desulfitobacterium = “sulfite-reducing rod-shaped bacterium” (de- “removal” + sulfitum “sulfite” + bacterium).
- hafniense refers to Hafnia, the Latin name for Copenhagen, Denmark, where it was first isolated.
- First described by Christiansen and Ahring in 1996.
Who oversees the names now?
- GovernanceNames are approved by the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes (ICSP).
- PublicationNames and descriptions appear in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology (IJSEM).
- RulesMust follow Latin grammatical rules, be unique, and include a formal type strain in a recognized culture collection.
Key terms in plain language
Open a term for a concise explanation of language used on this page.
Broadband
A general term for always-on, high-speed Internet access. Broadband can be delivered over fiber, cable, DSL, fixed wireless, cellular, or satellite networks.
Cloud Computing
Computing resources—such as applications, servers, storage, or databases—delivered from remote infrastructure and scaled as requirements change.
Cybersecurity
The practices and controls used to protect identities, devices, networks, applications, and data from unauthorized access, disruption, or manipulation.
Identity and Access Management (IAM)
The systems and policies that determine who a user is, what resources they may access, and how that access is authenticated and reviewed.
API
An application programming interface is a defined way for software systems to exchange data or request functions from one another.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Software designed to perform tasks involving prediction, classification, generation, reasoning, or decision support. Business use still requires clear data, governance, security, and human accountability.