Are There Bacteria Species?

It may very properly be asked whether the attempt to define distinct species, of a more or less permanent nature, such as we are accustomed to deal with amongst the higher plants and animals, is not altogether illusory amongst such lowly organised forms of life as the bacteria. No biologist nowadays believes in the absolute fixity of species ... but there are two circumstances which here render the problem of specificity even more difficult of solution. The bacteriologist is deprived of the test of mutual fertility or sterility, so valuable in determining specific limits amongst organisms in which sexual reproduction prevails. Further, the extreme rapidity with which generation succeeds generation amongst bacteria offers to the forces of variation and natural selection a field for their operation wholly unparalleled amongst higher forms of life.

Notes:

With their ability to trade genes and quick evolution, classifying bacteria into species is much more difficult than classifying other species.

Folksonomies: evolution species bacteria

Taxonomies:
/science/biology/zoology/endangered species (0.529881)
/health and fitness/disease/infertility (0.447971)
/health and fitness/disease (0.145780)

Keywords:
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The Evolution of the Streptococci

Periodicals>Journal Article: Andrewes, Frederick William (1906), The Evolution of the Streptococci, The Lancet, 2, 1415-6., Retrieved on 2011-09-06

Folksonomies: biology bacteriology

Triples

06 SEP 2011

The Difficulty of Defining Species

Species Divisions are Complicated > Similarity > Are There Bacteria Species?
Dawkins describes the difficulty of defining any species, with missing links making it possible at all; while Frederick William Andrewes describes the difficulty of classifying bacteria, where rapid evolution and gene swapping magnify the issues Dawkins describes.

Folksonomies: evolution biology species taxonomy