Verrucomicrobiota is a phylum of

Gram-negative bacteria Gram-negative bacteria are bacteria that do not retain the crystal violet stain used in the Gram staining method of bacterial differentiation. They are characterized by their cell envelopes, which are composed of a thin peptidoglycan cell wall ...

that contains only a few described species. The species identified have been isolated from

fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

, marine and

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...

environments and human

faeces Feces ( or faeces), known colloquially and in slang as poo and poop, are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a relati ...

. A number of as-yet uncultivated species have been identified in association with eukaryotic hosts including extrusive explosive ectosymbionts of

protist A protist () is any eukaryotic organism (that is, an organism whose cells contain a cell nucleus) that is not an animal, plant, or fungus. While it is likely that protists share a common ancestor (the last eukaryotic common ancestor), the exc ...

s and

endosymbiont An ''endosymbiont'' or ''endobiont'' is any organism that lives within the body or cells of another organism most often, though not always, in a mutualistic relationship. (The term endosymbiosis is from the Greek: ἔνδον ''endon'' "within" ...

s of

nematode The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-Parasitism, parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhab ...

s residing in their

gamete A gamete (; , ultimately ) is a haploid cell that fuses with another haploid cell during fertilization in organisms that reproduce sexually. Gametes are an organism's reproductive cells, also referred to as sex cells. In species that produce t ...

s. Verrucomicrobiota are abundant within the environment, though relatively inactive. This phylum is considered to have two sister phyla:

Chlamydiota The Chlamydiota (synonym Chlamydiae) are a bacterial phylum and class whose members are remarkably diverse, including pathogens of humans and animals, symbionts of ubiquitous protozoa, and marine sediment forms not yet well understood. All of th ...

(formerly Chlamydiae) and

Lentisphaerota Lentisphaerota is a phylum of bacteria closely related to Chlamydiota and Verrucomicrobiota. It includes two monotypic orders Lentisphaerales and Victivallales. Phylum members can be aerobic or anaerobic and fall under two distinct phenotyp ...

(formerly Lentisphaerae) within the

PVC superphylum The PVC superphylum is a superphylum of bacteria named after its three important members, Planctomycetota, Verrucomicrobiota, and Chlamydiota. Cavalier-Smith postulated that the PVC bacteria probably lost or reduced their peptidoglycan cell wall ...

. The Verrucomicrobiota phylum can be distinguished from neighbouring phyla within the PVC group by the presence of several

conserved signature indels Conserved signature inserts and deletions (CSIs) in protein sequences provide an important category of molecular markers for understanding phylogenetic relationships. CSIs, brought about by rare genetic changes, provide useful phylogenetic markers ...

(CSIs). These CSIs represent unique, synapomorphic characteristics that suggest common ancestry within Verrucomicrobiota and an independent lineage amidst other bacteria. CSIs have also been found that are shared by Verrucomicrobiota and

exclusively of all other bacteria. These CSIs provide evidence that ''Chlamydiota'' is the closest relative to ''Verrucomicrobiota'', and that they are more closely related to one another than to the '' Planctomycetales''. Verrucomicrobiota might belong in the

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

Planctobacteria The PVC superphylum is a superphylum of bacteria named after its three important members, Planctomycetota, Verrucomicrobiota, and Chlamydiota. Cavalier-Smith postulated that the PVC bacteria probably lost or reduced their peptidoglycan cell wall ...

in the larger clade

Gracilicutes Gracilicutes (Latin: ''gracilis'', slender, and ''cutis'', skin, referring to the cell wall) is a clade in bacterial phylogeny. Traditionally gram staining results were most commonly used as a classification tool, consequently until the advent of ...

. In 2008, the whole

genome In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding ge ...

of ''

Methylacidiphilum infernorum ''Methylacidiphilum infernorum '' is an extremely acidophilic methanotrophic aerobic bacteria first isolated and described in 2007 growing on soil and sediment on Hell's Gate, New Zealand. Similar organisms have also been isolated from geotherm ...

'' (2.3 Mbp) was published. On the single circular

chromosome A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins are ...

, 2473 predicted proteins were found, 731 of which had no detectable homologs. These analyses also revealed many possible homologies with

Pseudomonadota Pseudomonadota (synonym Proteobacteria) is a major phylum of Gram-negative bacteria. The renaming of phyla in 2021 remains controversial among microbiologists, many of whom continue to use the earlier names of long standing in the literature. The ...

Phylogeny

Taxonomy

The currently accepted taxonomy is based on the

List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN) is an online database that maintains information on the naming and taxonomy of prokaryotes, following the taxonomy requirements and rulings of the International Code of Nomenclature ...

(LPSN) and

National Center for Biotechnology Information The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) is part of the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), a branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It is approved and funded by the government of the United States. The ...

(NCBI) * Genus ?"''Ca.'' Epixenosoma" Bauer et al. 2005 * Genus ?"'' Methyloacida''" Islam et al. 2008 * Genus ?"'' Nucleococcus''" Sato et al. 2014 * Class

Opitutae The Opitutales is an order in the phylum Verrucomicrobiota Verrucomicrobiota is a phylum of Gram-negative bacteria that contains only a few described species. The species identified have been isolated from fresh water, marine and soil enviro ...

Choo et al. 2007 ** Order Opitutales Choo et al. 2007 *** Family CAG-312 **** Genus "''Ca.'' Merdousia" Gilroy et al. 2021 *** Family UBA953 **** Genus "''Ca.'' Spyradosoma" Gilroy et al. 2021 *** Family KCTC-12870 **** Genus '' Ruficoccus'' Lin et al. 2017 **** Genus '' Cerasicoccus'' Yoon et al. 2007 *** Family DSM-45221 **** Genus "''

Lentimonas ''Lentimonas'' is a bacterial genus from the family of Puniceicoccaceae with one known species ('' Lentimonas marisflavi''). See also * List of bacterial orders * List of bacteria genera This article lists the genera of the bacteria. The curr ...

''" Choo & Cho 2006 **** Genus '' Coraliomargarita'' Yoon et al. 2007 *** Family Puniceicoccaceae Choo et al. 2007 **** Genus "''Ca.'' Fucivorax" Orellana et al. 2022 **** Genus "''Ca.'' Marcellius" Nixon et al. 2019 **** Genus '' Oceanipulchritudo'' Feng et al. 2020 **** Genus "''Ca.'' Pinguicoccus" Serra et al. 2020 **** Genus '' Puniceicoccus'' Choo et al. 2007 *** Family UBA2987 **** Genus "''Ca.'' Moanibacter" corrig. Vosseberg, Martijn & Ettema 2018 *** Family Opitutaceae Choo et al. 2007 **** Genus '' Alterococcus'' Shieh and Jean 1999 **** Genus '' Cephaloticoccus'' Lin et al. 2016 **** Genus "''Ca.'' Didemniditutus" corrig. Lopera et al. 2017 **** Genus '' Ereboglobus'' Tegtmeier et al. 2018 **** Genus "'' Geminisphaera''" Wertz et al. 2018 **** Genus "'' Lacunisphaera''" Rast et al. 2017 **** Genus '' Nibricoccus'' Baek et al. 2019 **** Genus '' Oleiharenicola'' Rochman et al. 2018 **** Genus '' Opitutus'' Chin et al. 2001 **** Genus '' Pelagicoccus'' Yoon et al. 2007 **** Genus '' Rariglobus'' Pitt et al. 2020 **** Genus "''Ca.'' Synoicihabitans" Murray et al. 2021 * Class " Methylacidiphilae" ** Order " Methylacidiphilales" Op den Camp 2009 *** Family " Methylacidiphilaceae" Op den Camp 2009 **** Genus "'' Methylacidimicrobium''" van Teeseling et al. 2014 **** Genus "'' Methylacidiphilum''" Hou et al. 2008 **** Genus "''Ca.'' Methylacidithermus" Picone et al. 2021 *** Family NGM72-4 **** Genus '' Limisphaera'' Anders et al. 2015 *** Family " Pedosphaeraceae" **** Genus "'' Pedosphaera''" Ozyurt 2008 * Class Terrimicrobia García-López et al. 2020 ** Order Terrimicrobiales García-López et al. 2020 *** Family " Chthoniobacteraceae" Sangwan et al. 2004 **** Genus "'' Chthoniobacter''" Sangwan et al. 2004 *** Family Terrimicrobiaceae García-López et al. 2020 **** Genus '' Terrimicrobium'' Qiu et al. 2014 *** Family UBA10450 **** Genus "''Ca.'' Udaeobacter" Brewer et al. 2016 *** Family " Xiphinematobacteraceae" **** Genus "''Ca.'' Xiphinematobacter" Vandekerckhove et al. 2000 * Class Verrucomicrobiae Hedlund et al. 1998 ** Order Verrucomicrobiales Ward-Rainey et al. 1996 *** Family Akkermansiaceae Hedlund & Derrien 2012 **** Genus ''

Akkermansia ''Akkermansia'' is a genus in the phylum Verrucomicrobiota (Bacteria). The genus was first proposed by Derrien '' et al.'' (2004), with the type species ''Akkermansia muciniphila'' (gen. nov., sp. nov). Etymology The name ''Akkermansia'' der ...

'' Derrien et al. 2004 **** Genus '' Haloferula'' Yoon et al. 2008 **** Genus '' Luteolibacter'' Yoon et al. 2008 **** Genus '' Persicirhabdus'' Yoon et al. 2008 **** Genus '' Rubritalea'' Scheuermayer et al. 2006 **** Genus '' Roseibacillus'' Yoon et al. 2008 *** Family Verrucomicrobiaceae Ward-Rainey et al. 1996 **** Genus "'' Fucophilus''" Sakai et al. 2001b **** Genus '' Brevifollis'' Otsuka et al. 2013 **** Genus '' Oceaniferula'' Jin et al. 2022 **** Genus '' Phragmitibacter'' Szuróczki et al. 2021 **** Genus ''

Prosthecobacter ''Prosthecobacter'' is a genus of bacteria from the phylum Verrucomicrobiota with a distinctive characteristic; the presence of tubulin-like genes. Tubulins, which are components of the microtubule, have never been observed in Gracilicutes bef ...

'' Staley et al. 1976 ex Staley et al. 1980 **** Genus '' Roseimicrobium'' Otsuka et al. 2013 **** Genus "'' Sulfuriroseicoccus''" Feng et al. 2022 **** Genus '' Terrimicrobium'' Qiu et al. 2014 **** Genus '' Verrucomicrobium'' Schlesner 1988

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q18667425 Bacteria phyla