Aharon Oren is a microbiologist and coauthor of the 2022 revision of the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes, published in 2023. This work contributes to prokaryotic nomenclature: shared rules that let researchers apply and track names consistently.[ref]
International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes. Prokaryotic Code (2022 Revision) by Aharon Oren and others. Original byline and Preface: preparation and publication of the revision
One useful technical distinction concerns a strain. The code describes it through descent from one isolation in pure culture, while a culture is a population at a particular place and time. Serially transferring material into fresh vessels can therefore produce several cultures of the same strain.[ref]
International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes. Prokaryotic Code (2022 Revision) by Aharon Oren and others. Appendix 10, section A(3), Use of other terms: culture and strain
The example shows why a laboratory sample label and a biological identity are different kinds of information. Two vessel labels do not by themselves establish two independent strains, and descent from one isolation need not establish descent from one original biological cell.
New to topics? Read the docs here!