On a Non-Discrete Concept of Prokaryotic Species
The taxonomic concept of species has received continuous attention. A microbial species as a discrete box contains a limited number of highly similar microorganisms assigned to that taxon, following a polyphasic approach. In the 21st Century, with the advancements of sequencing technologies and geno...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-11-01
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| Series: | Microorganisms |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/8/11/1723 |
| _version_ | 1797548874250846208 |
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| author | Juan M. Gonzalez Elena Puerta-Fernández Margarida M. Santana Bhagwan Rekadwad |
| author_facet | Juan M. Gonzalez Elena Puerta-Fernández Margarida M. Santana Bhagwan Rekadwad |
| author_sort | Juan M. Gonzalez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The taxonomic concept of species has received continuous attention. A microbial species as a discrete box contains a limited number of highly similar microorganisms assigned to that taxon, following a polyphasic approach. In the 21st Century, with the advancements of sequencing technologies and genomics, the existence of a huge prokaryotic diversity has become well known. At present, the prokaryotic species might no longer have to be understood as discrete values (such as 1 or 2, by homology to Natural numbers); rather, it is expected that some microorganisms could be potentially distributed (according to their genome features and phenotypes) in between others (such as decimal numbers between 1 and 2; real numbers). We propose a continuous species concept for microorganisms, which adapts to the current knowledge on the huge diversity, variability and heterogeneity existing among bacteria and archaea. Likely, this concept could be extended to eukaryotic microorganisms. The continuous species concept considers a species to be delimited by the distance between a range of variable features following a Gaussian-type distribution around a reference organism (i.e., its type strain). Some potential pros and cons of a continuous concept are commented on, offering novel perspectives on our understanding of the highly diversified prokaryotic world, thus promoting discussion and further investigation in the field. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T15:06:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-572d3766874640d79a5cca756dc884da |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2607 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T15:06:01Z |
| publishDate | 2020-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Microorganisms |
| spelling | doaj.art-572d3766874640d79a5cca756dc884da2023-11-20T19:43:11ZengMDPI AGMicroorganisms2076-26072020-11-01811172310.3390/microorganisms8111723On a Non-Discrete Concept of Prokaryotic SpeciesJuan M. Gonzalez0Elena Puerta-Fernández1Margarida M. Santana2Bhagwan Rekadwad3Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, IRNAS-CSIC, Avda. Reina Mercedes 10, 41012 Sevilla, SpainInstituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, IRNAS-CSIC, Avda. Reina Mercedes 10, 41012 Sevilla, SpainCentre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c), Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Edifício C2, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, PortugalNational Centre for Microbial Resource, National Centre for Cell Science, NCCS Complex, Savitribai Phule Pune University Campus, Ganeshkhind Road, Maharashtra State, Pune 411007, IndiaThe taxonomic concept of species has received continuous attention. A microbial species as a discrete box contains a limited number of highly similar microorganisms assigned to that taxon, following a polyphasic approach. In the 21st Century, with the advancements of sequencing technologies and genomics, the existence of a huge prokaryotic diversity has become well known. At present, the prokaryotic species might no longer have to be understood as discrete values (such as 1 or 2, by homology to Natural numbers); rather, it is expected that some microorganisms could be potentially distributed (according to their genome features and phenotypes) in between others (such as decimal numbers between 1 and 2; real numbers). We propose a continuous species concept for microorganisms, which adapts to the current knowledge on the huge diversity, variability and heterogeneity existing among bacteria and archaea. Likely, this concept could be extended to eukaryotic microorganisms. The continuous species concept considers a species to be delimited by the distance between a range of variable features following a Gaussian-type distribution around a reference organism (i.e., its type strain). Some potential pros and cons of a continuous concept are commented on, offering novel perspectives on our understanding of the highly diversified prokaryotic world, thus promoting discussion and further investigation in the field.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/8/11/1723speciesdiscrete modelcontinuous modeltaxonomytaxonmicrobial diversity |
| spellingShingle | Juan M. Gonzalez Elena Puerta-Fernández Margarida M. Santana Bhagwan Rekadwad On a Non-Discrete Concept of Prokaryotic Species Microorganisms species discrete model continuous model taxonomy taxon microbial diversity |
| title | On a Non-Discrete Concept of Prokaryotic Species |
| title_full | On a Non-Discrete Concept of Prokaryotic Species |
| title_fullStr | On a Non-Discrete Concept of Prokaryotic Species |
| title_full_unstemmed | On a Non-Discrete Concept of Prokaryotic Species |
| title_short | On a Non-Discrete Concept of Prokaryotic Species |
| title_sort | on a non discrete concept of prokaryotic species |
| topic | species discrete model continuous model taxonomy taxon microbial diversity |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/8/11/1723 |
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