Candidatus facts for kids
Candidatus is a special word used in the scientific classification of bacteria. Think of it like a temporary label for certain types of bacteria.
It's used for bacteria that scientists know exist, but they can't grow them in a lab. Usually, to properly name a bacterium, you have to grow it on a special dish called an agar plate or in other lab cultures. But some bacteria are tricky! An example is "Candidatus Phytoplasma allocasuarinae".
Scientists use the "Candidatus" status when they've studied a species or group of bacteria quite a lot, but they just can't get it to grow in the lab. Nowadays, scientists learn a lot about these bacteria by looking at their RNA (a bit like DNA) using something called 16S ribosomal RNA sequence analysis. This helps them identify and understand bacteria even without growing them.
A Bit of History
To officially name a new species of bacteria, scientists usually need to find it, grow it in the lab, describe it in detail, and then store it in a collection of bacteria cultures. However, some bacteria are very picky about where they live. They might need special conditions, like living inside other living things or cells.
This includes bacteria that cause diseases and must live inside a host (called pathogens), or bacteria that live in a helpful way inside other organisms (called endosymbionts). It also includes bacteria found in places like oceans or sludge that are hard to grow outside their natural environment.
Why was 'Candidatus' created?
In 1994, two scientists named Murray and Schleifer suggested a new idea. They recommended creating this "Candidatus" category for bacteria that scientists knew were there but couldn't describe fully because they couldn't grow them. It was a way to give these bacteria a name and talk about them, even if they didn't meet all the usual rules for naming. They also suggested that a list of these "Candidatus" bacteria should be kept in a scientific journal called the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology.
The abbreviation for Candidatus is "Ca.", according to a group of scientists who study certain types of bacteria like Phytoplasma and Spiroplasma.
See also
In Spanish: Candidatus para niños
