TRUC or the Need for a New Microbial Classification

Microbes were defined in the 19th century by L. Pasteur. Prokaryotes and eukaryotes, which are divided into two worlds of microbes, were introduced by E. Chatton in 1925. R. Woese divided this world into three domains based on ribosomal analysis (Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya). The discovery of Mimivirus and other Megavirales, that are microbes, led to divide the microbiological world into four branches. I introduced the name TRUC (Things Resisting Uncompleted Classifications) to accommodate the division in four of the currently known microbiological world. (C) 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel