Criticism and bibliography: Zmitrovich I. V., Perelygin V. V., Zharikov M. V. Nomenclature and rank correlation of higher taxa of eukaryotes. Мoscow: INFRA-M, 2022. 183 p. ISBN 978-5-16-018531-6. (Book series “Folia Cryptogamica Petropolitana”. № 8)

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The monograph entitled “Nomenclature and Rank Correlation of Higher Taxa of Eukaryotes” by I. V. Zmitrovich, V. V. Perelygin, and M. V. Zharikov has a unique feature, since it is addressed to both theoretical biologists, dealing with problems of systematics, and practitioners who develop issues of industrial microbiology, bioengineering, and biomedicine.

Modern progress in molecular biology allows for the precise determination of the relationship between organisms based on the diagnostic nucleotide sequences of important genome regions, leading to important discoveries. For example, Pneumocystis carinii, which was long considered a protozoan and classified as a sporozoan, turned out to be a fungus related to some yeast groups. This information was demanded by clinicians who know which antibiotics are effective against fungal infections. However, an excessive flow of scientific information can hinder the systematization and classification according to the existing paradigm of information hysteresis. Changes in systematics happen so quickly that Internet classifiers cannot keep up with them. In addition, there are many competing versions of classification, which makes it difficult to find the optimal solution for a user who does not follow the latest developments in systematics. This can be time-consuming and resource-intensive, making the classification process more complicated.

The authors of this monograph aim to systematize all new data expressed in recent years in the field of eukaryotic classification, to determine the consensus of experts’ opinions, and to identify those moments on which consensus has not been reached. This mainly concerns the taxonomic rank of groups, which reflects the degree of their differences. To determine the rank of large groups, it is necessary to carefully consider the topology of eukaryotic tree from different perspectives. Each research group working in different areas of this tree research takes into account its overall topology, but the amount of information is so large that there is not always enough time for a complete and detailed review. However, the authors of this monograph carried out such a review, conveying to the reader the rank structure of the system of eukaryotes, the development of which is based on modern phylogenetic classification.

The book contains an extensive auxiliary apparatus, including interesting notes discussing various issues such as the priority of domestic researchers in discovering the antibiotic activity of Penicillium, the “Floridean hypothesis” of the origin of fungi, and a detailed presentation of the group of fungus-like protists oomycetes.

It is important to note that the next stage of the authors’ work on systematics will be further research on the development of algorithms for managing microbial communities in different environmental conditions with different sets of limiting factors to implement the useful properties of microorganisms with different secretory activity.

About the authors

Mikhail V. Arkhipov

North-Western Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Food Supply Problems – a separate subdivision of the St. Petersburg Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences; St. Petersburg Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Author for correspondence.
Email: agrorentgen@mail.ru

Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor, Principal Researcher of the Department of Agriculture and Crop Production, Principal Researcher of Sector of Plant Biophysics, Laboratory of Ecological Physiology and Biophysics of Plants

Russian Federation, St. Petersburg; St. Petersburg

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