Necessity and rationale for the proposed name changes in the classification of Mollicutes species. Reply to: ‘Recommended rejection of the names Malacoplasma gen. nov., Mesomycoplasma gen. nov., Metamycoplasma gen. nov., Metamycoplasmataceae fam. nov., Mycoplasmoidaceae fam. nov., Mycoplasmoidales ord. nov., Mycoplasmoides gen. nov., Mycoplasmopsis gen. nov. [Gupta, Sawnani, Adeolu, Alnajar and Oren 2018] and all proposed species comb. nov. placed therein’, by M. Balish et al. (Int J Syst Evol Microbiol, 2019;69:3650–3653)

This response summarizes the highly disordered state of theMollicutestaxonomy that existed until recently, where mostMollicutestaxa lacked proper circumscriptions and their names were not in accordance with the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes and illegitimate. We also summarize the comprehensive phylogenomic and comparative genomic studies forming the basis for the proposed changes in the classification ofMollicultesspecies. Our responses to the concerns raised by Balishet al., show that the proposed taxonomic changes do not violate any essential point of the Code. Instead the proposed name changes rectify numerous taxonomic anomalies that have long plagued the classification ofMollicutes species, leading to a better understanding of their evolutionary relationships and bringing their nomenclature in conformity with the Code.

Bacterial Typing Techniques
Phylogeny
Tenericutes
Terminology as Topic
illegitimacy of the names Entomoplasmataceae and Entomoplasmatales
order Mycoplasmoidales and the families Metamycoplasmataceae and Mycoplasmoidaceae
polyphyly of the genus Mycoplasma and the family/order Mycoplasmataceae/Mycoplasmatales
priority of the genus name Eperythrozoon over Mycoplasma
revised classification of species from the orders Mycoplasmatales and Entomoplasmatales

Overview