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HIERARCHICAL CLASSIFICATION OF THE PHYLUM DELTAPROTEOBACTERIA

HIERARCHICAL CLASSIFICATION OF THE PHYLUM DELTAPROTEOBACTERIA (STACKENBRANDT ET AL. 1988)

EUBACTERIA> PROTEOBACTERIAE> DELTAPROTEOBACTERIA
PHYLUM DELTAPROTEOBACTERIA LINKS

Description of Phylum

Synoptic Description

The Deltaproteobacteria has two major groups within it: the strict anaerobic sulfate reducers and the aerobic vibrios and gliding bacteria. We took this separation to be at the class-level (classes Anoxydeltabacteriae and Oxydeltabacteriae). The ordinal structure is from Garrity et al. (2003). This is a modification of Garrity et al. (2003). This system has 2 classes.
  • CLASS ANOXYDELTABACTERIA
    • Chemoorganotrophic or chemolithotrophic organisms, most of which are strict anaerobes. Mostly unicellular, but some can form cellular aggregates.
    • ORDER DESULFURELLALES
      • Motile rods; strictly anaerobic chemoorganotrophs or chemolithotrophs. Elemental sulfur (or polysulfide) is the most common electron acceptor. Cytochromes absent. Metabolize simple organic sources. From geothermal springs, freshwater or marine.
      • Desulfurella, Hippea
    • ORDER DESULFOVIBRIONALES
      • Motlie rods that may be curved. Strict anaerobes; chemoorganotrophic or chemolithotrophic. Sulfate is the most common electron acceptor, reducing it to sulfide. Metabolize simple organic sources. They do contain cytochromes. They have been found in geothermal springs and almost every type of aquatic system, freshwater, marine, treatment systems, digestive tracts.
      • Desulfovibrio, Bilophila, Lawsonia
      • Desulfomicrobium, Desulfonatronovibrio, Desulfothermus
      • Desulfonatronum
    • ORDER DESULFOBACTERALES
      • Sulfate-reducing bacteria that are morphologically diverse (rods, cocci, ovals, and curved; some in cellular aggregates). Anaerobic chemoorganotrophs, chemolithoheterotrophs, or chemolithoautotrophs. Most often sulfate is the electron acceptor is reduced to sulfide. Organic compounds like long-chained fatty acids and aromatic hydrocarbons serve as electron donors. They metabolize organic sources to carbon dioxide (complete oxidation) or acetate (incomplete oxidation). Contain cytochromes. From most aquatic environments.
      • Desulfobacter, Desulfobacterium, Desulfobacula, Desulfobotulus, Desulfocella, Desulfococcus, Desulfofaba, Desulfofrigus, Desulfonema, Desulfosarcina, Desulfospira, Desulfotignum
      • Desulfobulbus, Desulfocapsa, Desulfofustis, Desulfotalea
      • Nitrospina
    • ORDER DESULFARCALES
      • Sulfate-reducing rods or comma-shaped bacteria. They are similar to members of the Desulfobacteriales but due to a deep branch in the 16S rRNA tree, separated into a separate order.
      • Desulfarculus
    • ORDER DESULFUROMONALES
      • Motile anaerobic rod-shaped bacteria; chemolithoheterotrophs or chemoorganotrophs; from anoxic marine and freshwater habitats.
      • Desulfuromonas, Desulfuromusa, Malonomonas, Pelobacter
      • Geobacter, Trichlorobacter
    • ORDER SYNTROPHOBACTERALES
      • Most are sulfate-reducers and oxidize organic substrates completely to carbon dioxide. A few oxidize sources to acetate. From marine geothermal springs. They grow best at neutral pH.
      • Syntrophobacter, Desulfacinum, Desulforhabdus, Desulfovirga, Thermodesulforhabdus
      • Syntrophus, Desulfobacca, Desulfomonile, Smithella
  • CLASS OXYDELTABACTERIA
    • Intricate life cycles are common. Aerobic.
    • ORDER BDELLOVIBRIONALES
      • Often, comma-shaped cells, each with a polar flagellum. They are obligate aerobes. These are predatory motile cells that feed on other bacteria. They have an attack phase in which they are motile and an intracellular phase in which they are intraperiplasmic. The flagellum is sheathed and the cells can swim up to 100 cell lengths per second.
      • Bdellovibrio, Bacteriovorax, Micavibrio, Vampirovibrio
    • ORDER MYXOCOCCALES
      • These are gliding bacteria that have intricate lifecycles. The mycelium-like structure forms fruiting bodies that yield dessication-resistant myxospores.
      • Myxococcus, Corallococcus, Pyxicoccus
      • Cystobacter, Archangium, Hyalangium, Melettangium, Stigmatella
      • Polyangium, Byssophaga, Chondromyces, Haploangium, Jahnia, Sorangium
      • Nannocystis
      • Kofleria
LITERATURE CITED

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By Jack R. Holt. Last revised: 02/07/2012
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