S61: Applying the phylogenomic species concept to Bacteria and Archaea

During the past two decades major technical advances have occurred in molecular biology that have enabled biologists to obtain and analyze sequence and genomic data from organisms.  These advances now make it possible to reconsider our concept of what comprises a microbial species.  Bacteriologists already use the phylogenetic approach, based on the sequence analyses of the 16S rRNA gene, for the classification of Bacteria and Archaea from the level of the phylum to the genus. A proposal has been made to extend the phylogenetic approach and couple it with genomic analyses in a proposed phylogenomic species concept for the taxonomy of bacterial and archaeal species.  This presentation discusses the pragmatic issues of how microbiologists can transition from the current definition of bacterial and archaeal species to a species concept that recognizes the importance of speciation and in which both sequence information and phenotype are relevant.