Questions related to the nomenclature and taxonomy of Bacteria.
I have observed that Aphanizomenon strains isolated from the Baltic Sea (and also the strains isolated in the US) has all been assigned to the Dolichospermum genus instead here in the database, can I get some more information about why is this? And also if it is because they are phylogenetically very close (although not at all morphologically) why is it reassigned to Dolichospermum since as far as I know this name came up in 2009 while Aphanizomenon has been around since at least 1896? Thank you!
Hi Malin
It seems that your question stayed unanswered by our team and I truly apologise for this!
Cyanobacterial nomenclature is a work in progress as we expect more genomes from ex-holotypes cultures to be sequenced. At the moment we have to rely on multiple sources such as CyanoDB or AlgaeBase to apply names as correct as possible in GTDB.
You pointed to the correct order of priority between Aphanizomenon and Dolichospermum. However we are unsure about the identity of the genomes that are claimed to be assigned to Aphanizomenon. On the other side, genomes representing the strains of Dolichospermum can be verified. The current genomes form well supported monophyletic clade in our reference tree and name Dolichospermum is applied based on present strains.
It is certainly possible name Aphanizomenon should be applied as an earlier generic name, and availability of ex-holotype culture will help us to correct this in the future (if needed).
Kindest regards,
Masha