Abstract:Acetic acid bacteria are Gram-negative, obligate aerobic bacteria that have the ability to incompletely oxidize alcohols or sugars to organic acids as end products. The taxonomy of acetic acid bacteria has undergone many changes in the last 30 years. The early classification systems for these bacteria were based on morphological and biochemical characteristics. Today, the acetic acid bacteria are classified as the consensus result of a polyphasic analysis, combining phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and genotypic data. This paper reviewed the polyphasic taxonomy of acetic acid bacteria, mainly introduced the current classification of acetic acid bacteria, then discussed the application of phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and genotypic method in the taxonomy of acetic acid bacteria.