Minutes of the ICSP Executive Board Meetings, Term 2023-2026

Chair: E.R.B. MOORE University of Gothenburg Sweden Vice-Chair: C.M. MANAIA Universidad Católica Portuguesa Portugal Executive Secretary: A. OREN Hebrew University of Jerusalem Israel Secretary for Subcommittees: S.L.W. ON Lincoln University New Zealand Treasurer: P. NIELSEN Novozymes, Copenhagen Denmark Members at Large: R. HAHNKE Leibniz Institute DSMZ Germany M. SAKAMOTO RIKEN BioResource Research Center Japan Members of the Judicial Committee Chair: D.R. ARAHAL University of Valencia Spain Vice-Chair: H. CHRISTENSEN University of Copenhagen Denmark Secretary: M. GÖKER Leibniz Institute DSMZ Germany International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes EB-ICSP Meeting 2nd June 2025 – Minutes Minute 1. The Chair called the meeting to order at 10.00 CEST. Minute 2. Record of attendance The following members of the Executive Board (EB) participated: E.R.B. Moore (Chair), C.M. Manaia (Vice-Chair), A. Oren (Executive Secretary), P. Nielsen (Treasurer), R. Hahnke (Member-at-Large), M. Sakamoto (Member-at-Large), H. Christensen (Vice-Chair JC), and M. Göker (Secretary JC). Apologies were received from S.L.W. On (Secretary of Subcommittees) and D.R. Arahal (Chair JC). Minute 3. Minutes of the 24th April 2025 meeting of the EB The draft minutes of the 24th April 2025 meeting were approved. A. Oren will distribute the minutes to the members of the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes (ICSP), the Judicial Commission (JC), and chairs of the Subcommittees on Taxonomy, and he will send a copy to E.R.B. Moore to be posted on the ICSP website. Minute 4. Matters Arising/Action points from previous meetings A. Oren has forwarded the redacted minutes of the 3rd April meeting of the Executive Board to all members of the ICSP, the Judicial Commission and the Chairs of the Subcommittees on Taxonomy. E.R.B. Moore has posted the redacted minutes of the 3rd April meeting of the Executive Board on the ICSP website. S.L.W. On was not present at the meeting and he did not inform the EB whether he has liaised with the chair of the subcommittee on Borrelia and provided instructions on how to prepare and publish minutes of the subcommittee meetings. Ongoing. E.R.B. Moore will contact S.L.W. On to request further information about any recent actions taken in the framework of this duties as EB member. S.L.W. On did not notify the EB whether he has recently corresponded with the proposed ICSP Subcommittee on the Taxonomy of Neisseriaceae. Ongoing. S.L.W. On did not notify the EB whether he has requested more detailed information and an estimate of the cost involved in the ‘geocaching’ project proposed by M. del C. Montero-Calasanz. See Minute 13. Ongoing. A. Oren has prepared the ballot material for amendment of the ICSP statutes and circulated it on April 25 among the full members and co-opted members for voting. Page 2 of 5 International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes M. Göker has opened a LinkedIn account for the ICSP (https://www.linkedin.com/company/international-committee-on-systematics-of-prokaryotes). M. Göker and E.R.B. Moore have announced on X/Twitter that the ICSP has opened a LinkedIn account to replace our X/Twitter account. Three EB members have sent suggestions for an improved agenda for an open plenary ICSP meeting to E.R.B. Moore. See Minute 7. E.R.B. Moore has prepared and circulated a new draft agenda for an open plenary ICSP meeting. E.R.B. Moore has polled the EB members for a suitable day in June to hold the online open ICSP meeting. The meeting was set for 19th June. See Minute 7. A. Oren has sent reminders to those ICSP members who have not yet returned the ballot form for endorsement of JC Opinion 132. A. Oren has invited M. del C. Montero-Calasanz to post information about the Spanish ‘Give me a Name’ contest on the new LinkedIn account of the ICSP. No response was received. Ongoing. E.R.B. Moore has polled the EB members for a suitable day to hold the next EB meeting. Minute 5. Status of the voting on emendation of Rule 8 of the ICNP The voting on the proposed emendation of Rule 8 of the ICNP will end on 17th June. E.R.B. Moore and C.M. Manaia reported that thus far, 26 members have returned the ballot form. After the voting has ended, A. Oren will publish the outcome and the text of the new Note to Rule 8 in the IJSEM. Minute 6. Status of the voting on emendation of the ICSP Statutes The voting on the emendation of the ICSP statutes is in progress. P. Nielsen and H. Christensen serve as the tellers. The ballot will be closed on 25th July. Minute 7. Finalization of the planning of the upcoming ICSP Plenary Meeting After three EB members had sent their comments on earlier versions of the draft agenda of the 19th June open plenary meeting, a new version of the document circulated by E.R.B. Moore was discussed and approved with minor modifications and corrections. The proposal by C.M. Manaia to shorten the meeting to 90 minutes instead of two hours was not adopted by the EB. A. Oren will circulate the agenda among the ICSP membership and the chairs of subcommittees on taxonomy. It may be good to circulate documents to be discussed during the plenary meeting, such as the treasurer’s report, to the ICSP members before the plenary meeting. EB members are invited to send relevant material to A. Oren no later than 11th June, and he will forward the material to the ICSP membership on 12th June. A. Oren will circulate the result of the survey on the use of social media by ICSP members, as prepared by M. Göker. Page 3 of 5 International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes One of the agenda points is the discussion of the EU Horizon BIODIV call. The general opinion was that it is desirable for ICSP members to submit proposals to this program. E.R.B. Moore will convene a special meeting of the EB before the date of the plenary meeting to discuss the options in further depth. Minute 8. Update from the JC H. Christensen reported that Opinion 132 was sent for publication, and that the JC is preparing Opinions 133 and 134. Minute 9. Update from the Editor-in-Chief of the ICNP A. Oren reported that a number of comments and proposed minor corrections were recently posted on the Slack channel by M. Göker. All are encouraged to look at the comments posted and respond, if necessary. Discussion on the revisions of the ICNP will end on 29th July. Then the editorial board will prepare the 2025 revision of the ICNP for voting by the ICSP membership. Minute 10. Update from the IJSEM and the Publications Committee C.M. Manaia has met with A. Monica of the Microbiology Society on 11th April in Porto to discuss the plan to make the IJSEM an open access journal. It is not yet clear when and how the Microbiology Society intends to implement this plan. On 3rd June, an online meeting of IJSEM editors, convened by N. Froude, will be held to discuss changes in the workflow due to the implementation of the new Section 10 of the ICNP and the handling of submissions that include Candidatus taxa. The nomenclature guidelines on the IJSEM website have been updated accordingly. A. Oren reported on yet another case of very poor typesetting of an IJSEM manuscript (List of Changes in Taxonomic Opinion 42, to be published in July). He has alerted the Publications Committee and the staff of the Microbiology Society of the problem. There are also severe typesetting problems for Candidatus List no. 6. A. Oren further reported that Validation List no. 225, to be published in July, will be the longest validation list ever, thanks to the efforts of M. Göker and two B.Sc. students guided by him to identify names that were effectively published in the past but never submitted for validation, in spite of the fact that all formal requirements for validation are met. Minute 11. Update from the Treasurer P. Nielsen reported that the annual honorarium from the Microbiology Society was received, and that he has paid the honorarium due to LPSN. He also has transferred the GBP 150 prize money to the Spanish students who won the ‘Give me a Name’ contest (see Minute 13). M. Göker commented that, if the ICSP has sufficient funds, some may be used to set up an online system to upload and process validation requests. He will further investigate the options, and present a proposal at the next EB meeting. Page 4 of 5 International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes Minute 12. Update from Subcommittees on Taxonomy S.L.W. On did participate in the EB meeting and has not sent any updates to report. Minute 13. Update from Working Groups and Ad Hoc Committees On 19th May, A. Oren participated in the prize ceremony of the ‘Give me a Name’ 2025 contest for Spanish high school students, organized by M. del C. Montero-Calasanz, and gave a presentation to the students about prokaryotic nomenclature. He has invited M. del C. Montero-Calasanz to send pictures and further information to be posted on the ICPS website and on LinkedIn. M. del C. Montero-Calasanz did not yet respond to requests from S.L.W. On for further information about her proposed ‘geocaching’ project. R. Hahnke has contacted her again on 2nd June on this issue. M. Göker reported that the Ad Hoc Committee on Mitigating Changes in Prokaryotic Nomenclature has submitted a report for publication in the IJSEM, and has finished the preparation of the first version of its list of recommended names of bacteria for bacteria of medical importance, which is now is visible on LPSN. The Ad Hoc Committee is currently working on manuscripts about proposing sub-genera instead of new genera, because this avoids renaming species. The Ad Hoc Committee will meet again on 3rd June. The meeting was adjourned at 11.52 CEST. Minutes prepared by A. Oren, 3rd June 2025. Action points A. Oren, to forward the redacted minutes of the 24th April meeting of the Executive Board to all members of the ICSP, the Judicial Commission and the chairs of the Subcommittees on Taxonomy. E.R.B. Moore, to post the redacted minutes of the 24th April meetings of the Executive Board on the ICSP website. S.L.W. On, to liaise with the chair of the subcommittee on Borrelia and provide instructions on how to prepare and publish minutes of the subcommittee meetings. S.L.W. On, to further correspond with the proposed ICSP Subcommittee on the Taxonomy of Neisseriaceae. S.L.W. On, to request more detailed information and an estimate of the cost involved in the ‘geocaching’ project proposed by M. del C. Montero-Calasanz. E.R.B. Moore, to contact S.L.W. On and request information about his recent actions taken in the framework of this duties as Secretary of Subcommittees and member of the Workgroup on Education and Outreach. Page 5 of 5 International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes A. Oren, to remind M. del C. Montero-Calasanz to post information about the Spanish ‘Give me a Name’ contest on the new LinkedIn account of the ICSP and to send material to be posted on the ICSP website. A. Oren, to circulate the approved agenda of the 19th June plenary meeting among the ICSP members and the chairs of the subcommittees on taxonomy. A. Oren, to circulate the result of the survey on the use of social media by ICSP members among the ICSP members and the chairs of the subcommittees on taxonomy. All EB members, to send documents relevant to the 19th June plenary meeting to A. Oren no later than 11th June; A. Oren, to forward the material to the ICSP membership on 12th June. E.R.B. Moore, to convene a special meeting of the EB before 19th June to discuss options for ICSP members to submit proposals to the EU Horizon BIODIV call. M. Göker, to investigate options to set up an online system to upload and process validation requests.