Naming of polyphyletic groups

Bacterial Taxonomy
1

M. gordonae is split into several polyphyletic groups:

  • Mycobacterium gordonae
  • Mycobacterium gordonae_B
  • Mycobacterium gordonae_D

Is thre a reason M. gordonae_C was not used?

Relatedly, there is a group Mycobacterium mucogenicum_B but no Mycobacterium mucogenicum. Any reason ‘_B’ was used?

2

Hello,

Thank you for your request.

The name M. gordonae_C was replaced by Mycobacterium vicinigordonae in release 207 (see taxon history). The original submitter annotation was applied from NCBI and this was later changed as the strain was recognised to be a member of a novel species.

Re Mycobacterium mucogenicum:

We have multiple genomes that are claimed to be derived from this species but are clustered within different species clusters. Since the type strain of this species has not yet been sequenced, we do not know what species cluster should bear this species name. Hence, the suffix is appended.

The species cluster named Mycobacterium mucogenicum_B contains the genome from strain DSM 44124 but it is not a type strain of this species.

Hope this helps!

cheers,
Masha

1 Like
3

Thanks Masha!

1 Like
4

You are welcome!
Please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any further question or want to report an issue.