List of Recommended Names for bacteria of medical importance: report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Mitigating Changes in Prokaryotic Nomenclature

The Ad Hoc Committee on Mitigating Changes in Prokaryotic Nomenclature was recently established under the auspices of the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes to address the impact of name changes of prokaryotic taxa in databases, scientific publications and other sources, particularly agencies responsible for establishing protocols and standards for infectious disease control. Here, we report on the activities of the committee and the actions taken to date. A first key task of the Committee was to emphasize to stakeholders that the vast majority of name changes are not mandatory under the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes (ICNP), and to provide guidance. The second key task was to compile a List of Recommended Names (LoRN) for bacteria of human or veterinary medical importance. This list has been incorporated into the List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN) and is easily and freely available from LPSN. The principles for compiling and updating the list are described. Use of this list, rather than automatically treating the most recently proposed name of a taxon that has obtained standing under the ICNP as the name to be applied to the taxon, will greatly reduce the burden on practitioners who need to use prokaryotic names, e.g. in human and veterinary medical routines, and the risk associated with new, unfamiliar names. Other databases are encouraged to use LoRN.