Lecture 4 - Classification of Bacteria

Taxonomy
In microbiology, taxonomy is the process of naming, describing, and classifying microorganisms. This helps us see relationships between organisms, understand them better, and ultimately discover better ways to control them.

Artificial Classification
Artificial classification is the classification of organisms based on relatively few and trivial characteristics. This method classifies organisms using easily recognizable characteristics, but the classifications do not always show the true ancestral relationships between organisms.

Linnaeus and Whittaker's classification schemes are examples of artificial classification.

Natural Classification
Natural classification is the way to classify organisms based on their ancestry, which is done by observing their genes.

A good example of natural classification is Woese's classification scheme.

Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology
In the first edition, Bergey artificially classified bacteria based on their cell wall chemistry. There were 4 divisions or phyla for bacteria.

The second edition of the manual was mainly naturally classified, with three domains and over 40 phyla. Under this text, bacteria do not have kingdoms. [[Category:Lectures]