When Carl Woese first set forth the three-domain classification of life, he proposed the names "Archaebacteria" and "Eubacteria" for the two prokaryotic domains. These were replaced with the names "Archaea" and "Bacteria" in Woese et al. (1990). The taxonomic name "Bacteria" refers only to the eubacteria. The informal name "bacteria" is occasionally used loosely in the literature to refer to all of the prokayrotes, and care should be taken to interpret it's meaning in any particular context.

Achenbach-Richter, L., Gupta, R., Stetter, K.O., and Woese, C.R. "Were the original eubacteria thermophiles?" Syst. Appl. Microbiol. (1987) 9:34-39.

Christensen, H., Angen, O., Mutters, R., Olsen, J.E., and Bisgaard, M. "DNA-DNA hybridization determined in micro-wells using covalent attachment of DNA." Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. (2000) 50:1095-1102.

Christensen, H., Bisgaard, M., Frederiksen, W., Mutters, R., Kuhnert, P., and Olsen, J.E. "Is characterization of a single isolate sufficient for valid publication of a new genus or species? Proposal to modify recommendation 30b of the Bacteriological Code (1990 Revision)." Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. (2001) 51:2221-2225.

Clayton, R.A., Sutton, G., Hinkle, P.S. Jr, Bult, C., and Fields, C. "Intraspecific variation in small-subunit rRNA sequences in GenBank: why single sequences may not adequately represent prokaryotic taxa." Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. (1995) 45:595-599.

Dalevi, D., Hugenholtz, P., and Blackall, L.L. "A multiple-outgroup approach to resolving division-level phylogenetic relationships using 16S rDNA data." Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. (2001) 51:385-391.

Euzeby, J.P. "List of Bacterial Names with Standing in Nomenclature: a folder available on the Internet." Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. (1997) 47:590-592.

Gurtler, V., and Mayall, B.C. "Genomic approaches to typing, taxonomy and evolution of bacterial isolates." Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. (2001) 51:3-16

Haeckel, E.H.: Systematische Phylogenie der Protisten und Planzen. (1894) I.G. Reimer, Berlin. p. 40.

Hansmann, S., and Martin, W. "Phylogeny of 33 ribosomal and six other proteins encoded in an ancient gene cluster that is conserved across prokaryotic genomes: influence of excluding poorly alignable sites from analysis." Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. (2000) 50:1655-1663.

Keswani, J., and Whitman, W.B. "Relationship of 16S rRNA sequence similarity to DNA hybridization in prokaryotes." Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. (2001) 51:667-678.

Moore, L.V., Bourne, D.M., and Moore, W.E. "Comparative distribution and taxonomic value of cellular fatty acids in thirty-three genera of anaerobic gram-negative bacilli." Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. (1994) 44:338-347.

Murray, R.G., and Schleifer, K.H. "Taxonomic notes: a proposal for recording the properties of putative taxa of procaryotes." Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. (1994) 44:174-176.

Palys, T., Nakamura, L.K., and Cohan, F.M. "Discovery and classification of ecological diversity in the bacterial world: the role of DNA sequence data." Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. (1997) 47:1145-1156.

Stackebrandt, E., Frederiksen, W., Garrity, G.M., Grimont, P.A., Kampfer, P., Maiden, M.C., Nesme, X., Rossello-Mora, R., Swings, J., Truper, H.G., Vauterin, L., Ward, A.C., and Whitman, W.B. "Report of the ad hoc committee for the re-evaluation of the species definition in bacteriology." Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. (2002) 52:1043-1047.

Tindall, B.J. "Proposals to update and make changes to the Bacteriological Code." Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. (1999) 49:1309-1312. [No abstract available.]

Tindall, B.J. "Misunderstanding the Bacteriological Code." Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. (1999) 49:1313-1316.

Tindall, B.J. "Proposal to change Rule 18a, Rule 18f and Rule 30 to limit the retroactive consequences of changes accepted by the ICSB." Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. (1999) 49:1321-1322. [No abstract available.]

Tindall, B.J. "Proposal to change the Rule governing the designation of type strains deposited under culture collection numbers allocated for patent purposes." Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. (1999) 49:1317-1319. [No abstract available.]

Truper, H.G., "Taxonomic notes: Names for higher taxa and their impact on the Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria." Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. (1994) 368-369. [No PubMed record available.]

Viale, A.M., Arakaki, A.K., Soncini, F.C., and Ferreyra, R.G. "Evolutionary relationships among eubacterial groups as inferred from GroEL (chaperonin) sequence comparisons." Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. (1994) 44:527-533.

Winker, S., and Woese, C.R. "A definition of the domains Archaea, Bacteria and Eucarya in terms of small subunit ribosomal RNA characteristics." Syst. Appl. Microbiol. (1991) 14:305-310.

Woese, C.R., and Fox, G.E. "Phylogenetic structure of the prokaryotic domain: the primary kingdoms." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A (1977) 74:5088-5090.

Woese, C.R., Stackebrandt, E., Macke, T.J., and Fox, G.E. "A phylogenetic definition of the major eubacterial taxa." Syst. Appl. Microbiol. (1985) 6:143-151.

Woese, C.R., Kandler, O., and Wheelis, M.L. "Towards a natural system of organisms: proposal for the domains Archaea, Bacteria, and Eucarya." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (1990) 87:4576-4579.

Xu, H.X., Kawamura, Y., Li, N., Zhao, L., Li, T.M., Li, Z.Y., Shu, S., and Ezaki, T. "A rapid method for determining the G+C content of bacterial chromosomes by monitoring fluorescence intensity during DNA denaturation in a capillary tube." Int. J. Syst.Evol. Microbiol. (2000) 50:1463-1469.

Young, J.M. "Suggestions for avoiding on-going confusion from the Bacteriological Code." Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. (2000) 50:1687-1689. [No abstract available.]