David Ruiz Arahal, professor of Microbiology at the University of Valencia, is one of the six editors who has worked on the fifth revised edition of the International Prokaryotic Nomenclature Code, the system that regulates the scientific nomenclature for bacteria. This is the first time that a Spanish scientist participates in this task.

The International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes(ICNP) governs the way in which bacteria and archaea can be named. It is an official publication of the International Committee of Prokaryotic Systematics, germinated in 1930 during the First International Congress of Microbiology in Paris, in view of the need to provide these organisms with their own nomenclature rules. "In the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century, many microbiologists followed the provisions of the Botanical Code of Nomenclature, because bacteria were considered a part of the fungi, the schizomycetes, while some others were recollected in the Zoological Code or named the organisms they discovered without following established rules", says David Ruiz Arahal, member of the editorial staff of the present edition.

The first draft of the document appeared in 1947 and its fifth revised edition -sixth overall- has just been published. This edition of the ICNP is the result of the analysis of the proposals contained in 45 articles published since 2008, the year of the previous edition. Among the most important changes is the recognition of the Tall (Phylum) as a taxonomic category, in addition to several modifications aimed at resolving the status of cyanobacteria in the prokaryotic nomenclature.

This is the first time that Spanish scientists participate as editors of the International Prokaryotic Nomenclature Code. On this occasion, Ruiz Arahal is accompanied by Ramón Rosselló-Mora, microbiologist at the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA, UIB-CSIC).

David Ruiz Arahal has been performing different functions in the ICSP structure since 2002. Since April 2019 he chairs the ICSP Judicial Commission, which is the highest body in interpretation of the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes. Under his presidency, 32 Judicial Opinions have been published. As a taxonomist he has described 60 new bacterial species, as well as 10 genera and one family.

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Reference:

International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes. Prokaryotic Code (2022 Revision) Aharon Oren^​, David R. Arahal, Markus Göker^​, Edward R. B. Moore^​, Ramon Rossello-Mora^​, Iain C. Sutcliffe.