Rules for molecular microbiology:
The following rules are not intended to be exhaustive; many examples of proper usage may be found in the CDC and AMA references. Note the two main rules of interest in the image.14,15
Genes:
- Gene designations are usually italicized
- Many virus gene names are traditionally 3 letters, italicized, and lowercase (although some may be in caps and not italicized). Virus gene names may be described in a variety of ways.
- Examples: src gene, myc gene, HA, NA
- Fungus gene names are treated the same as virus gene names
- Bacterial gene names are always italicized
- Mitochondrial gene names add an mt prefix to the 3- or 4-letter gene
- Drug target genes are all capped, no italics
- Human gene names are all caps and italicized (No longer than 6 characters)
- Different alleles of the same gene have no capitalization and no italics
Proteins:
- Protein designations are not italicized
- Often have common names
- If the term is combined with repress or react, it is a protein and not a gene
- Example: An outer surface protein A is abbreviated OspA. (The corresponding gene is ospA).
Restriction Enzymes:
- In general, uses a three-letter designation of the bacterium from which they are isolated, plus a single letter to represent the strain and a Roman numeral showing the order in which it was identified.
- Example: EcoRI, BamHI
14. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Updated 2022, March 2). Scientific nomenclature. Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/page/scientific-nomenclature15. AMA Manual of Style Committee. (2020). AMA Manual of Style - A Guide for Authors and Editors (11th ed.). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/jama/9780190246556.001.0001
