Revisiting the Evolution and Taxonomy of Clostridia, a Phylogenomic Update
| Autor: | Esteban Marcellin, George Moutafis, Gonzalo Rincon, Camila A. Orellana, Glenn Moonen, Pablo Cruz-Morales, Lars K. Nielsen |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
Clostridium
DNA Bacterial 0303 health sciences Letter pangenome biology 030306 microbiology Firmicutes Phylum Clostridiales phylogenomics biology.organism_classification Clostridia taxonomy 03 medical and health sciences Monophyly Evolutionary biology Phylogenomics Genetics Taxonomy (biology) Phylogeny Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics 030304 developmental biology |
| Zdroj: | Genome Biology and Evolution |
| ISSN: | 1759-6653 |
| Popis: | Clostridium is a large genus of obligate anaerobes belonging to the Firmicutes phylum of bacteria, most of which have a Gram-positive cell wall structure. The genus includes significant human and animal pathogens, causative of potentially deadly diseases such as tetanus and botulism. Despite their relevance and many studies suggesting that they are not a monophyletic group, the taxonomy of the group has largely been neglected. Currently, species belonging to the genus are placed in the unnatural order defined as Clostridiales, which includes the class Clostridia. Here we used genomic data from 779 strains to study the taxonomy and evolution of the group. This analysis allowed us to; (i) confirm that the group is composed of more than one genus (ii), detect major differences between pathogens classified as a single species within the group of authentic Clostridium spp. (sensu stricto), identify inconsistencies between taxonomy and toxin evolution that reflect on the pervasive misclassification of strains and, (iv) identify differential traits within central metabolism of members of what has been defined earlier and confirmed by us as cluster I. Our analysis shows that the current taxonomic classification of Clostridium species hinders the prediction of functions and traits, suggests a new classification for this fascinating class of bacteria and highlights the importance of phylogenomics for taxonomic studies. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|