Bacteria and Viruses 707 



Recommendation 276. Orthography and Gender of Names 



RECOMMENDATION 27d. When a new name for a genus or subgenus is 

 taken from the name of a person it should be formed in the following man- 

 ner: 



(1) When the name of the person ends in a vowel or y, the letter a is added, 

 except when the name of the person ends in o, when ea is added. 



(2) When the name of a person ends in a consonant the letters ia are 

 added, except when the name ends in er when a is added. 



(3) When the name of a person has been Latinized and ends in us, this 

 termination is dropped before adding the sufFix. 



(4) The name of a bacterial genus or subgenus may be formed from the 

 name of a person by the addition of a diminutive ending. 



(5) The syllables which are not modified by these endings retain their 

 original spelling, even with the consonants k and w or with groupings 

 of vowels or consonants not used in classical Latin. 



ANNOTATIONS 



Recommendation 27d. Relatively few generic names of bacteria have 

 been taken from names of persons. Of the approximately 168 bac- 

 terial generic names recognized in the 7th edition of Bergey's Manual 

 of Determinative Bacteriology, 22 are from patronymics; of the 18 

 generic names of rickettsiae, 10 are thus derived. 



Recommendation 27 d (1) . Among the generic names of bacteria 

 derived from names of persons ending in a vowel are Gaffkya, Serraiia, 

 Noguchia, Nevskia, Beggiatoa, Cowdria and Beneckea. No example 

 has been found in which the name of a bacterial genus is derived 

 from a person's name ending in a by the addition of ea. In botany 

 Collaea is taken from Colla. The generic names thus formed are 

 feminine nouns. The botanical recommendation is essentially the same. 

 The Zoological Code recommends that generic names derived from the 

 names of persons ending in the vowels e, i, o, u or y take the ending 

 -us, -a or -um. However, in zoology it is relatively rare for an ending 

 other than -a to be proposed. Of seven examples of such names listed by 

 Follett all end in -a, all are feminine nouns. The option to create 

 neuter or masculine nouns is rarely exercised. In zoology, personal 

 names ending in -a add -ia (in contrast to the botanical and bac- 

 teriological -ea) in formation of generic names. 



Recommendation 27 d (2) . Examples: Escherichia, Erwinia, Dono- 

 vania, Kiirthia, Pastenria, Nocardia, Borrelia, Rickettsia. The recom- 

 menation that -a be added to names ending in -er has been com- 

 monly ignored, and -ia has been added, as in Neisseria and Listeria. 

 In Zinssera the recommendation has been followed. 



The Botanical Code includes the same Recommendation. 



The Zoological Rules recommend that personal names ending in 

 a consonant take the ending -ius, -ia or -iiim, making masculine, 

 feminine or neuter generic names, as Selysius, Lamarckia. Here again 

 the alternative of forming a feminine noun is usually chosen. 



