Towards a balanced view of the bacterial tree of life

• Main Authors: Frederik Schulz, Emiley A. Eloe-Fadrosh, Robert M. Bowers, Jessica Jarett, Torben Nielsen, Natalia N. Ivanova, Nikos C. Kyrpides, Tanja Woyke
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2017-10-01
• Series: Microbiome
• Subjects: Bacteria; Bacterial diversity; Tree of life; Small subunit (SSU) rRNA; Candidate Phyla Radiation (CPR); Microbial dark matter (MDM)
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40168-017-0360-9

Abstract The bacterial tree of life has recently undergone significant expansion, chiefly from candidate phyla retrieved through genome-resolved metagenomics. Bypassing the need for genome availability, we present a snapshot of bacterial phylogenetic diversity based on the recovery of high-quality SSU rRNA gene sequences extracted from nearly 7000 metagenomes and all available reference genomes. We illuminate taxonomic richness within established bacterial phyla together with environmental distribution patterns, providing a revised framework for future phylogeny-driven sequencing efforts.