Genome sequences as the type material for taxonomic descriptions of prokaryotes.

Genome sequencing of type strains promises to revolutionize prokaryotic systematics by greatly improving the identification of species, elucidating the functional properties of taxonomic groups, and resolving many of the ambiguities in the phylogeny of the higher taxa. Genome sequences could also serve as the type material for naming prokaryotic taxa, which will greatly expand the nomenclature governed by the Bacteriological Code to include many fastidious and uncultured organisms and endosymbionts of great biological interest.