The suffix -monas is used in microbiology for many genera and is intended to mean "unicellular organism".
Meaning
The suffix -monas found in many genera in microbiology is similar in usage to
-bacter,
-bacillus,
-coccus or
-spirillum. The genera with the suffix are not a monophyletic group and the suffix is chosen over -bacter, often simply out of stylistic preferences to match with Greek words.
The first genus to be given the suffix -monas was ''
Pseudomonas
''Pseudomonas'' is a genus of Gram-negative, Gammaproteobacteria, belonging to the family Pseudomonadaceae and containing 191 described species. The members of the genus demonstrate a great deal of metabolic diversity and consequently are able ...
'', a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of
gammaproteobacteria
Gammaproteobacteria is a class of bacteria in the phylum Pseudomonadota (synonym Proteobacteria). It contains about 250 genera, which makes it the most genera-rich taxon of the Prokaryotes. Several medically, ecologically, and scientifically imp ...
. The generic epithet ''Pseudomonas'' was coined by
Walter Migula
Emil Friedrich August Walter (or Walther) Migula (born 1863 in Żyrowa, Poland; died 1938 in Eisenach, Germany) was a Poland-born German botanist.
In 1890, he was habilitated for botany at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, where he spent seve ...
in 1894, who did not give an etymology.
[Migula, W. (1900) System der Bakterien, Vol. 2. Jena, Germany: Gustav Fischer.]
Since the 7th edition of Bergey's manual (=top authority in bacterial nomenclature), other authors have given the etymology to be:
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
(, false) and (, single unit or monad), which can mean "false unit". However, "false unit" conceptually does not make much sense, namely, it does not mean "an organism which may falsely appear as a single unit but it is not" as it is not found in multicellular chains nor was it ever described as such. One speculation is that the name was chosen simply out of aesthetics,
while the most plausible theory states that Migula intended it as false ''
Monas
The National Monument ( id, Monumen Nasional, abbreviated Monas) is a 132 m (433 ft) obelisk in the centre of Merdeka Square, Central Jakarta, symbolizing the fight for Indonesia. It is the national monument of the Republic of Indones ...
'',
[ a nanoflagellate protist ('']Chrysophyceae
The Chrysophyceae, usually called chrysophytes, chrysomonads, golden-brown algae or golden algae are a large group of algae, found mostly in freshwater. Golden algae is also commonly used to refer to a single species, ''Prymnesium parvum'', whic ...
'': '' Ochromonadales'': '' Ochromonadaceae'': '' Chrysomonadida'': '' Ochromonadidae''). Subsequently, the term "monas" was used in the early history of microbiology to denote single-celled organisms.[
]
Grammar
In English to make a vernacular name
A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
for members of a genus, ''i.e.'' trivialising the scientific name, the scientific name is taken and written with sentence case and in roman type (i.e. "standard") as opposed to uppercase italic, the plurals are generally constructed by adding an "s", regardless of Greco-Roman grammar. In the case of genera ending in monas the ending is changed to monad with plural -monads.Bromelia
''Bromelia'' is a genus of about 70 plant species widespread across Latin America and the West Indies. It is the type genus of the family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Bromelioideae, and its type species is '' B. karatas''. ''Bromelia'' species are ch ...
''.
Archaeal genera
Bacterial genera
See also
* -bacter
References
{{reflist
monas
The National Monument ( id, Monumen Nasional, abbreviated Monas) is a 132 m (433 ft) obelisk in the centre of Merdeka Square, Central Jakarta, symbolizing the fight for Indonesia. It is the national monument of the Republic of Indones ...
Bacterial taxonomy
Biological nomenclature