The Aquificota phylum is a diverse collection of bacteria that live in harsh environmental settings. The name Aquificota was given to this phylum based on an early genus identified within this group, Aquifex, which is able to produce water by oxidizing hydrogen. They have been found in springs, pools, and oceans. They are autotrophs, and are the primary carbon fixers in their environments. These bacteria are Gram-negative, non-spore-forming rods. They are true bacteria as opposed to the other inhabitants of extreme environments, the Archaea.
Deinococcota is a phylum of bacteria with a single class, Deinococci, that are highly resistant to environmental hazards, also known as extremophiles. These bacteria have thick cell walls that give them gram-positive stains, but they include a second membrane and so are closer in structure to those of gram-negative bacteria.
The Chlamydiota 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 the Chlamydiota that humans have known about for many decades are obligate intracellular bacteria; in 2020 many additional Chlamydiota were discovered in ocean-floor environments, and it is not yet known whether they all have hosts. Historically it was believed that all Chlamydiota had a peptidoglycan-free cell wall, but studies in the 2010s demonstrated a detectable presence of peptidoglycan, as well as other important proteins.
Thermus is a genus of thermophilic bacteria. It is one of several bacteria belonging to the Deinococcota phylum. Thermus species can be distinguished from other genera in the family Thermaceae as well as all other bacteria by the presence of eight conserved signature indels (CSIs) found in proteins such as adenylate kinase and replicative DNA helicase as well as 14 conserved signature proteins (CSPs) that are exclusively shared by members of this genus.
The Thermotogota are a phylum of the domain Bacteria. The phylum contains a single class, Thermotogae. The phylum Thermotogota is composed of Gram-negative staining, anaerobic, and mostly thermophilic and hyperthermophilic bacteria.
The order Flavobacteriales comprises several families of environmental bacteria.
The Synergistota is a phylum of anaerobic bacteria that show Gram-negative staining and have rod/vibrioid cell shape. Although Synergistota have a diderm cell envelope, the genes for various proteins involved in lipopolysaccharides biosynthesis have not yet been detected in Synergistota, indicating that they may have an atypical outer cell envelope. The Synergistota inhabit a majority of anaerobic environments including animal gastrointestinal tracts, soil, oil wells, and wastewater treatment plants and they are also present in sites of human diseases such as cysts, abscesses, and areas of periodontal disease. Due to their presence at illness related sites, the Synergistota are suggested to be opportunistic pathogens but they can also be found in healthy individuals in the microbiome of the umbilicus and in normal vaginal flora. Species within this phylum have also been implicated in periodontal disease, gastrointestinal infections and soft tissue infections. Other species from this phylum have been identified as significant contributors in the degradation of sludge for production of biogas in anaerobic digesters and are potential candidates for use in renewable energy production through their production of hydrogen gas. All of the known Synergistota species and genera are presently part of a single class (Synergistia), order (Synergistiales), and family (Synergistaceae).
Deinococcus is in the monotypic family Deinococcaceae, and one genus of three in the order Deinococcales of the bacterial phylum Deinococcota highly resistant to environmental hazards. These bacteria have thick cell walls that give them Gram-positive stains, but they include a second membrane and so are closer in structure to Gram-negative bacteria. Deinococcus survive when their DNA is exposed to high doses of gamma and UV radiation. Whereas other bacteria change their structure in the presence of radiation, such as by forming endospores, Deinococcus tolerate it without changing their cellular form and do not retreat into a hardened structure. They are also characterized by the presence of the carotenoid pigment deinoxanthin that give them their pink color. They are usually isolated according to these two criteria. In August 2020, scientists reported that bacteria from Earth, particularly Deinococcus bacteria, were found to survive for three years in outer space, based on studies conducted on the International Space Station. These findings support the notion of panspermia, the hypothesis that life exists throughout the Universe, distributed in various ways, including space dust, meteoroids, asteroids, comets, planetoids or contaminated spacecraft.
The Negativicutes are a class of bacteria in the phylum Bacillota, whose members have a peculiar cell wall with a lipopolysaccharide outer membrane which stains gram-negative, unlike most other members of the Bacillota. Although several neighbouring Clostridia species also stain gram-negative, the proteins responsible for the unusual diderm structure of the Negativicutes may have actually been laterally acquired from Pseudomonadota. Additional research is required to confirm the origin of the diderm cell envelope in the Negativicutes.
Adlercreutzia is a genus in the phylum Actinomycetota (Bacteria).
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 that are generally of defined size and they are flanked on both sides by conserved regions to ensure their reliability. While indels can be arbitrary inserts or deletions, CSIs are defined as only those protein indels that are present within conserved regions of the protein.
Meiothermus is a genus of Deinococcota bacteria. Members of Meiothermus can be reliably distinguished from other genera in the family Thermaceae as well as all other bacteria by the presence of three conserved signature indels (CSIs) found in the proteins: 5-methyltetrahydrofolate–homocysteine methyltransferase, cadmium transporter and polynucleotide phosphorylase and are exclusively shared by species of this genus. Meiothermus is also different than the Thermus genus, which it was originally a member of, in their optimum growth temperatures, with Meiothermus being able to grow in colder environments. Meiothermus was first isolated with Thermus in alkaline and neutral hot springs in Kamchatka, Russia and Yellowstone National Park, USA.
Truepera is one genus of bacteria in the family Trueperaceae from the phylum Deinococcota. The following points accounts for its characteristics:
Haloferacaceae is a family of halophilic, chemoorganotrophic or heterotrophic archaea within the order Haloferacales. The type genus of this family is Haloferax. Its biochemical characteristics are the same as the order Haloferacales.
Metasolibacillus is a genus of gram-positive rod-shaped bacteria in the family Caryophanaceae from the order Caryophanales. The type species of this genus is Metasolibacillus meyeri.
The Eggerthellaceae are a family of Gram-positive, rod- or coccus-shaped Actinomycetota. It is the sole family within the order Eggerthellales.
Natrialbales is an order of halophilic, chemoorganotrophic archaea within the class Haloarchaea. The type genus of this order is Natrialba.
Haloferacales is an order of halophilic, chemoorganotrophic or heterotrophic archaea within the class Haloarchaea. The type genus of this order is Haloferax.
Halorubraceae is a family of halophilic, chemoorganotrophic or heterotrophic archaea within the order Haloferacales. The type genus of this family is Halorubrum. Its biochemical characteristics are the same as the order Haloferacales.
Haloarculaceae is a family of halophilic and mostly chemoorganotrophic archaea within the order Halobacteriales. The type genus of this family is Haloarcula. Its biochemical characteristics are the same as the order Halobacteriales.
