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Home , Chlamydiae, Chlamydia (genus), Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Spirochaete, Treponema

STI Online First, published on December 16, 2014 as 10.1136/sextrans-2014-051937

Editorial Sex Transm Infect: first published as 10.1136/sextrans-2014-051937 on 16 December 2014. Downloaded from

colonise humans and , but only two Mind your binomials: a guide to are human (N. gonorrhoeae and N. meningitidis).7 Sometimes, the microbial nomenclature and spelling can be divided into subspecies. For Sexually Transmitted example, we use the binomial in pallidum to refer to the sexually transmit- ted , but there are three 1 2 3,4 5 Nicola Low, Kelly Stroud, David A Lewis, Jackie A Cassell subspecies: T. pallidum subspecies pallidum causes syphilis; T. p all id um subsp. pertenue causes ; and T. p all id um subsp. Here is a quick quiz: nomenclature and abbreviations for bac- endemicum causes bejel.8 is a teria, and and the infec- bacterium with a contentious taxonomic Question 1: In which published articles is/are the tions they cause. name of the or condition spelled correctly? history, having been called Miyaganawella, A. N. gonorrheae1 Bedsonia and Rakeia in the past,9 and B. Trichamoniasis2 WHAT IS BINOMIAL NOMENCLATURE? having initially been thought to be a virus10 3 C. trachomatis All living have two names or a protozoan.11 D. gonorrhoea4 E. Neisseria gonorrhea5 (binomial) to describe them: a Answer: At the end of this piece. (generic name for a group of closely related VIRUSES fi Question 2: Do you like it when someone misspells organisms) and a species (speci c name that Virologists have adopted different criteria your name? distinguishes individual types within for nomenclature, partly because viruses 6 Answer: We don’t like it and you probably don’t the group). Knapp et al nicely summarised are not living organisms.12 Viruses often either. the origins of the system, which were have names in English, for example hepa- invented by Carl Linnæus, a Swedish titis B , but they can also have Latin There are several reasons for expecting botanist in the 18th century. Linnæus names, for example virus authors to spell scientific terms correctly. suggested two-word ‘nomina trivialia’ to (herpes comes from the Greek herpein, to First, the conventions for scientificnames make it easier to remember the names of creep). The generic names of viruses such are meant to allow scientists to communi- organisms, which were originally descrip- as HIV are not written in italics; italics are cate precisely and accurately with each tive phrases (‘nomina specifica’) that only used for the virus species name or its other. Incorrect spelling or terminology of changed as knowledge accrued. The rules family. They are not capitalised unless the the names of microorganisms can cause for nomenclature have changed over time name is a proper noun, for example Ebola confusion and perpetuate mistakes. Second, and differences between zoology, botany virus. an incorrectly spelled name in the title34of and microbiology have emerged.6 an article means that scientists searching for WHOSE RESPONSIBILITY IS IT TO GET fi your article might not nd it. Third, and THENAMERIGHT? maybe unfairly, poor spelling gives editors Bacteria have names in Latin. All bacteria Authors probably expect copy editors to and reviewers the impression that you do are named in five taxonomic categories: correct their spelling and editors expect not know or do not care about the subject , order, family, genus and species. The authors to proofread carefully. As our pub- of your research. genus and species form the binomial that lished examples show, failures at both stages A quick look at the mistakes made when we use to identify the organism (table 1). result in errors in the printed version. But http://sti.bmj.com/ spelling and The name of the genus can come from the getting to print is the end of a long process suggests that people person who discovered it, for example, and editors and reviewers will read a manu- are confused about when to use the Latin Neisseria,fromAlbertNeisser,oracharac- script before it is accepted. Authors are name for the or its common teristic of the organism, for example, responsible for checking their spelling and descriptive name and about differences Chlamydia, which is Greek for a cloak and terminology before submitting a manu- between UK and US English spelling. It describes its intracellular nature. The genus script. First impressions are important so it

’ on October 1, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. didn t take long to put together the errors might have more than one distinct species. makes sense to get the spelling and format- listed above, so we conclude that there is a For example, many species of Neisseria ting right before submission. real problem. Now is a good time to remind ourselves of the conventions for using and fi writing scienti c names and to let authors Table 1 Nomenclature for bacteria and general principles for formatting know of our new guidance for Formatting Example

Genus Italicised, uppercase first letter Neisseria 1 Institute of Social and Preventive , University Species Italicised, lowercase gonorrhoeae of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; 2BMJ Publishing Group, London, UK; 3Western Sydney Sexual Health Centre, Condition Not italicised, lowercase except when used Gonorrhoea (UK), (US) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; 4Centre for at start of a sentence Infectious Diseases and Microbiology & Marie Bashir Abbreviation May be used when several species from the “The sample contained Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, of genus same genus are being named or the same N. meningitidis and N. lactamica” Western Clinical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, species is mentioned repeatedly. Write the Australia; 5Department of Primary Care, Brighton and genus in full the first time, then abbreviate Sussex Medical School, East Sussex, UK with a full stop after the initial “ ” Correspondence to Professor Nicola Low, Institute of Unknown If the precise species is not known, use sp. The condition was caused by a Neisseria sp. “ Social and Preventive Medicine, Finkenhubelweg 11, species If there is more than one species, use spp. They identified several Neisseria spp. in the ” University of Bern, Bern, CH-3012, Switzerland; sample [email protected]

Low N, et al. Sex Transm Infect Month 2014 Vol 0 No 0 1 Copyright Article author (or their employer) 2014. Produced by BMJ Publishing Group Ltd under licence. Editorial Sex Transm Infect: first published as 10.1136/sextrans-2014-051937 on 16 December 2014. Downloaded from

Table 2 Organism names and abbreviations for bacteria and protozoa Abbreviation of Abbreviation of Binomial name Genus organism name Condition* infection name†

Chlamydia trachomatis Chlamydia C. trachomatis Chlamydia CT genitalium Mycoplasma M. genitalium M. genitalium infection‡ MG Neisseria gonorrhoeae§ Neisseria N. gonorrhoeae Gonorrhoea§ NG¶ Treponema T. pallidum Syphilis TP vaginalis Trichomonas T. vaginalis TV *Only capitalise first letter if used at the start of a sentence, otherwise lowercase. †In general, we discourage the use of abbreviated names for conditions. These abbreviations can be used in tables and figures where space is limited. They still need to be spelled out at the first use. ‡There is no agreed name at present. §Please note the ‘e’ at the end of the Latin species name. There is no ‘e’ at the end of the name of the condition. We use UK English spelling, which has an extra ‘o’ in the name of the condition. ¶GC cannot be used to abbreviate Neisseria gonorrhoeae. GC is used mainly in the UK as an abbreviation of gonococcus, the shape of the bacterium (see table 3).

Table 3 Adjectives for describing shapes of bacteria Shape singular/plural Description Example Plural Adjective

Coccus/cocci Spherical bacteria; can be in pairs (diplococci) Gonococcus Gonococci Gonococcal or chains (streptococci) Pneumococcus Pneumococci Pneumococcal Bacillus/* Rod-shaped bacteria Bacillary Spiral Spiral-shaped bacteria † Spirochaetal *Not to be confused with Bacillus the genus. †Most common example for sexually transmitted pathogens, that is, Treponema pallidum. Alternative forms are and spirillum.

ADVICE FOR AUTHORS Provenance and peer review Commissioned; emergency department. Sex Transm Infect – Editors and production staff at Sexually internally peer reviewed. 2013;89:489 4. 6 Knapp S, Lamas G, Lughadha EN, et al. Stability or To cite Low N, Stroud K, Lewis DA, et al. Sex Transm Transmitted Infections have come up with stasis in the names of organisms: the evolving codes Infect Published Online First: [please include Day some guidance for authors (tables 1, 2 of nomenclature. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci Month Year] doi:10.1136/sextrans-2014-051937 and 3). This combines published conven- 2004;359:611–22. tions for scientific nomenclature, sum- Received 6 November 2014 7 Bennett JS, Jolley KA, Earle SG, et al. A genomic Accepted 9 November 2014 approach to bacterial : an examination and marised by the journal Emerging fi 13 Sex Transm Infect 2014;0:1–2. proposed reclassi cation of species within the genus Infectious Diseases, and the opinions of – doi:10.1136/sextrans-2014-051937 Neisseria. Microbiol 2012;158(Pt 6):1570 80. the editors. We try to cover spelling and 8 Lukehart SA. Biology of treponemes. Chapter 36. abbreviations of both organisms and con- In: Holmes KK, Sparling PF, Stamm WE, Piot P, ditions for the most common sexually REFERENCES Wasserheit JN, Corey L, Cohen MS, Watts DH, eds. http://sti.bmj.com/ Sexually Transmitted Diseases. 4th edn. New York: transmitted infections (table 2). 1 Grad YH, Kirkcaldy RD, Trees D, et al. Genomic epidemiology of Neisseria gonorrhoeae with reduced McGraw-Hill Medical, 2008:647–59. We have posted the guidance in our susceptibility to cefixime in the USA: a retrospective 9 Bavoil P, Kaltenboeck B, Greub G. In Chlamydia Instructions for Authors on the submis- observational study. Lancet Infect Dis veritas. Pathog Dis 2013;67:89–90. sion website (http://sti.bmj.com/site/about/ 2014;14:220–26. 10 Clarke IN. Evolution of Chlamydia trachomatis. – guidelines.xhtml) and we hope you find it 2 Kalichman SC, Pellowski J, Turner C. Prevalence of Ann NY Acad Sci 2011;1230:E11 18. sexually transmitted co-infections in people living 11 Schachter J, Stephens RS. Biology of Chlamydia useful. Please follow our guidance for all with HIV/AIDS: systematic review with implications trachomatis. Chapter 31. In: Holmes KK, Sparling PF, on October 1, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. your future submissions. for using HIV treatments for prevention. Sex Transm Stamm WE, Piot P, Wasserheit JN, Corey L, Cohen MS, Infect 2011;87:183–90. Watts DH, eds. Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Answer: all are incorrect (see table 2 for the correct 3 Kersaudy-Rahib D, de Barbeyrac B, de Diego S, et al. 4thedn.NewYork:McGraw-HillMedical, spelling). Home screening compared with clinic-based 2008:555–76. screening for Chlamydiae trachomatis in France: a 12 Van Regenmortel MH. On the relative merits of Acknowledgements We would like to thank Yen randomised controlled trial. Lancet 2013;382:S53. italics, Latin and binomial nomenclature in virus Chau of the BMJ Production Team for helping to refine 4 Turner KME, Round J, Horner P, et al. An early taxonomy. Arch Virol 2000;145:433–41. the guidance and for implementing it. evaluation of clinical and economic costs and 13 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Scientific fi fi Contributors NL had the idea for the editorial and bene ts of implementing point of care NAAT tests Nomenclature. Secondary Scienti c Nomenclature for Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoea 2010. http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/page/ drafted it; KS drafted the tables for the production fi team; DL gave expert microbiological advice and JC in genitourinary medicine clinics in England. Sex scienti c-nomenclature (accessed 2 Dec 2014). – commented on the draft. All authors approved the final Transm Infect 2014;90:104 11. version and endorse the guidance. 5 Huppert JS, Taylor RG, St Cyr S, et al. Point-of-care testing improves accuracy of STI care in an Competing interests None.

2 Low N, et al. Sex Transm Infect Month 2014 Vol 0 No 0