THE IMPACT OF NUMERICAL-METHODS ON THE DEFINITION OF STREPTOMYCES SPECIES

The genus Streptomyces is the most important and intensively studied m ember of the actinomycetes. Definition of its species has been and rem ains difficult for a variety of reasons. The application of numerical techniques to the problem is reviewed over the period 1960-1990. The e fficiency and relevance of numerical techniques based on phenetic char acteristics are assessed by consideration of rapid, miniaturized tests , the impacts of genetic manipulations on probabilistic identification s and correlations of numerical phenetic data with those provided by c hemical and molecular techniques.