A critique of prokaryotic species concepts.

Abstract

Developments in DNA sequencing and population genetics analyses have revealed unanticipated complexity in prokaryotic variation. The observation that genetic traits are horizontally inherited at unexpected rates within and between closely related asexually reproducing lineages impacts our comprehension of prokaryotic evolution and ecology. As a result, the concepts that point to species as being discrete clusters or monophyletic lineages are at odds with most of the data, suggesting that taxon circumscription can only proceed by informed compromise, pragmatism, and subjectivity.