Taxonomy is the classification and naming of organisms based on their relationships and similarities. Organisms are classified into a hierarchical taxonomy with levels including kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. The species level groups organisms with a high degree of similarity in many features. Modern bacterial taxonomy relies on molecular analysis of highly conserved genes like the 16S rRNA gene to determine phylogenetic relationships and classify bacteria into the domains of Archaea, Bacteria, and Eucarya. Identification of bacterial species involves determining biochemical and genetic characteristics.