Organism Naming Conventions
The fully specified name (FSN) of organism concepts names are officially recognized Linnaean taxonomic classes and include a designation of rank. They include but are not limited to Phylum, Order, Suborder, Class, Family, Genus, and subspecies. The official names of organisms may include abbreviations such as “subg.“ (Kingdom Plantae) and “subsp.” and “subgen.” (Domain Bacteria).but when requesting changes you should expand word and not include an abbreviation.
- The SNOMED International Editorial Guide includes naming conventions that apply to all SNOMED CT® concepts. However, additional principles apply to the naming of concepts in the Organism hierarchy, and these differ from the general naming conventions, so it’s important to familiarize themselves with the detailed rules found in the Organism Naming Conventions in the section of the Editorial Guide.
- When considering a name, the first task is to consider if whether the concept represents an organism or taxonomic group of organisms that have a scientific name in the Linnaean taxonomy e.g. Escherichia coli (organism) or Genus Escherichia coli (organism) or Family Enterbacteriaceae (organism).
The non-Linnaean categories of organisms are reflected in SNOMED CT concepts which identifies a staining property, a physiological characteristic (that the organism requires oxygen) and a description of the organism’s morphology (that it is rod-shaped). These are among the properties used in a laboratory to determine the identity of a bacterial organism in a specimen, culture, or isolate. e.g Gram-negative aerobic rod (organism) or Deoxyribonucleic acid virus (organism)
- The Editorial guide specifies the source listed above to be considered when determining an organism's current name.