• From the time of Aristotle, living organisms were categorized
in just two ways, as either plants or animals. • In 1735, the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus introduced a formal system of classification dividing living organisms into two kingdoms-Plantae and Animalia. • In 1857, Carl von Nägeli, a contemporary of Pasteur, proposed that bacteria and fungi be placed in the plant kingdom. • In 1866, Ernst Haeckel proposed the Kingdom Protista, to include bacteria, protozoa, algae, and fungi. • With the advent of electron microscopy, the physical differences between cells became apparent. • The term prokaryote was introduced in 1937 by Edouard Chatton to distinguish cells having no nucleus from the nucleated cells of plants and animals. • In 1961, Roger Stanier provided the current definition of prokaryotes: cells in which the nuclear material (nucleoplasm) is not surrounded by a nuclear membrane. • In 1968, Robert G.E. Murray proposed the Kingdom Prokaryotae. • In 1969, Robert H. Whittaker founded the five-kingdom system in which prokaryotes were placed in the Kingdom Prokaryotae, or Monera, and eukaryotes comprised the other four kingdoms. • The Kingdom Prokaryotae had been based on microscopic observations. • Subsequently, new techniques in molecular biology revealed that there are actually two types of prokaryotic cells and one type of eukaryotic cell. • Bacteria are classified and identified to distinguish one organism from another and to group similar organisms by criteria of interest to microbiologists or other scientists. • Bacteria may be the most significant group of organisms on earth. • They are responsible for much of the decomposition of dead organisms, they convert nitrogen for plants, they help many animals digest food, they produced oxygen in the early atmosphere, and they make certain foods (yogurt, cheese, etc.). • The science of classification, especially the classification of living forms, is called taxonomy (from the Greek for orderly arrangement). • The objective of taxonomy is to classify living organisms-that is, to establish the relationships between one group of organisms and another and to differentiate them. • There may be as many as 100 million different living organisms • But fewer than 10% have been discovered, much less classified and identified. • Taxonomy also provides a common reference for identifying organisms already classified. • For example, when a bacterium suspected of causing a specific disease is isolated from a patient, characteristics of that isolate are matched to lists of characteristics of previously classified bacteria to identify the isolate. • Finally, taxonomy is a basic and necessary tool for scientists, providing a universal language of communication. Bacteria can be classified by: 1. colony shape in culture 2. motility 3. morphological characteristics other than shape...eg multiple flagella 4. metabolic activity eg. sugars they ferment 5. DNA sequence BACTERIA CLASSIFICATION BASED ON SHAPES AND COLONY MORPHOLOGY
• Before the advent of DNA sequencing, bacteria were
classified based on their shapes and biochemical properties. • Most of the bacteria belong to three main shapes: rod (rod shaped bacteria are called bacilli), sphere (sphere shaped bacteria are called cocci) and spiral (spiral shaped bacteria are called spirilla). • Some bacteria belong to different shapes, which are more complex than the above mentioned shapes. • Bacteria show characteristic type of growth on solid media under appropriate cultural conditions and the colony morphology can be used in presumptive identification. • The colonies can be varying in size and diameter, in outline (circular, wavy, rhizoid etc.) elevation (flat, raised, convex, etc.) and translucency (transparent, opaque, and translucent). • The colour of the colony or the changes that they bring about in their surroundings is also used as diagnostic tools in the tentative identification of the bacteria. • For example, colonies of streptococci on blood agar medium are small, beadlike and have a opalescent grey colour with smooth or slightly rough edges. AEROBIC AND ANAEROBIC BACTERIA • Bacteria are also classified based on the requirement of oxygen for their survival. • Bacteria those need oxygen for their survival are called Aerobic bacteria and bacteria those do not require oxygen for survival. • Anaerobic bacteria cannot bear oxygen and may die if kept in oxygenated environment (anaerobic bacteria are found in places like under the surface of earth, deep ocean, and bacteria which live in some medium). GRAM POSITIVE AND GRAM NEGATIVE BACTERIA • For more than a century bacteria have been classified according to their "Gram reaction" - named after Christian Gram who devised the protocol for his staining process in 1884.
• Bacteria are grouped as ‘Gram Positive’ bacteria and ‘Gram
Negative’ bacteria, which is based on the results of Gram Staining Method (in which, an agent is used to bind to the cell wall of the bacteria) on bacteria. AUTOTROPHIC AND HETEROTROPHIC BACTERIA • This is one of the most important classification types as it takes into account the most important aspect of bacteria growth and reproduction. • Autotrophic bacteria (also known as autotrophs) obtain the carbon it requires from carbon-dioxide. • Some autotrophs directly use sun-light in order to produce sugar from carbon-dioxide whereas other depend on various chemical reactions. • A heterotroph is an organism that cannot manufacture its own food by carbon fixation and therefore derives its intake of nutrition from other sources of organic carbon, mainly plant or animal matter. • In the food chain, heterotrophs are secondary and tertiary consumers. Classification of bacteria based on nutritional requirement CLASSIFICATION BASED ON PHYLA • Based on the morphology, DNA sequencing, conditions required and biochemistry, scientists have classified bacteria into phyla: • 1) Aquificae • 2) Xenobacteria • 3) Fibrobacter • 4) Bacteroids • 5) Firmicutes • 6) Planctomycetes • 7) Chrysogenetic • 8) Cyanobacteria • 9) Thermomicrobia • 10) Chlorobia • 11) Proteobacteria • 12) Spirochaetes • 13) Flavobacteria • 14) Fusobacteria • 15) Verrucomicrobia • Each phylum further corresponds to number of species and genera of bacteria. • The bacteria classification includes bacteria which are found in various types of environments such as sweet water bacteria, ocean water bacteria, bacteria that can survive extreme temperatures (extreme hot as in sulfur water spring bacteria and extreme cold as in bacteria found in Antarctica ice). • Bacteria that can survive in highly acidic environment, bacteria that can survive highly alkaline environment, aerobic bacteria, anaerobic bacteria, autotrophic bacteria, heterotrophic bacteria, bacteria that can withstand high radiation etc. • Bergey’s Manual of Determinative Bacteriology has been a widely used reference since the first edition was published in 1923. • The American bacteriologist David Bergey was chairman of the group who compiled information on the known bacteria from articles published in scientific journals. • Bergey’s Manual of Determinative Bacteriology (9th ed., 1994) does not classify bacteria according to evolutionary relatedness. • But instead provides identification (determinative) schemes. • Schemes based on such criteria as cell wall composition, morphology, differential staining, oxygen requirements, and biochemical testing. • The majority of Bacteria and Archaea have not been cultured, and scientists estimate that only 1% of these microbes have been discovered. THE BERGEY CLASSIFICATION OF BACTERIA • One of the more comprehensive bacterial classification manuals has been Bergey’s manual of determinative Bacteriology. • Because of on going taxonomic studies new species are continuously being described and changes are made. • Bergey Division I = The Cyanobacteria (formerly the blue-green alga) • These bacteria can use light as their energy source under aerobic conditions. • They use carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. • Bergey Division II = The Bacteria (includes the photo bacteria and all other classical bacteria). • The archaeabacteria were mixed within the 19 parts of the book Bergey’s classification of bacteria The Bergey Classification of Bacteria into 19 parts. • Phototrophic Bacteria: Rhodospirillum - Chromatium • Rhodopseudomonas • Gliding Bacteria: Myxococcus - Beggiatoa - Simonsiella - Leucothrix • Sheathed Bacteria: Sphaerotilus - Leptothrix • Budding / Appendaged Bacteria: Caulobacter - Gallionella • Spirochetes: Spirochaeta - Treponema - Borrelia • Spiral and Curved Bacteria: Spirillum - Auqaspirillum - Oceanospirillum -Bdellovibrio • Gram-negative Aerobic Rods and Cocci: Pseudomonas - Xanthanomonas -Zoogloea - Gluconobacter - Azotobacter - Rhizobium - Agrobacterium - Halobacterium - Acetobacter • Gram-Negative Facultative Anaerobic Rods: Escherichia - Citrobacter - Salmonella - Shigella - Klebsiella - Enterobacter - Serratia - Proteus - Yersinia - Erwinia - Vibrio - Aeromonas - Zymomonas - Chromobacterium - Flavobacterium • Gram-negative anaerobes: Bacteriodes - Fusobacterium - Desulfovibrio - Succinimonas • Gram-Negative cocci: Nisseria - Branhamella - Acinetobacter - Paracoccus • Gram-negative anaerobic cocci: Veillonella - Acidaminococcus • Gram-Negative Chemolithotrophic: Nitrobacter - Thiobacillus - Siderocapsa • Methane producing : Methanococcus, Methanosarcina • Gram-Positive Cocci: Micrococcus - Staphylococcus - Streptococcus - Leuconostoc - Pediococcus - Aerococcus - Peptococcus - Ruminococcus - Sarcina • Endospore-forming Rods and cocci: Bacillus - Clostridium - Sporosarcina • Gram-positive, non-sporing rods: Lactobacillus - Listeria - Erysipelothrix - Caryophanon • Taxonomy provides tools for clarifying the evolution of organisms, as well as their interrelationships.
• New organisms are being discovered every day, and
taxonomists continue to search for a natural classification system that reflects phylogenetic relationships.