''Gottfriedia'' is a genus of

gram-positive In bacteriology, gram-positive bacteria are bacteria that give a positive result in the Gram stain test, which is traditionally used to quickly classify bacteria into two broad categories according to their type of cell wall. The Gram stain is ...

or Gram-variable

rod-shaped Bacterial cellular morphologies are the shapes that are characteristic of various types of bacteria and often key to their identification. Their direct examination under a light microscope enables the classification of these bacteria (and archae ...

bacteria in the family

Bacillaceae Bacillaceae, from Latin "bacillus", meaning "little staff, wand", are a family of gram-positive, heterotrophic, rod-shaped bacteria that may produce endospores. Motile members of this family are characterized by peritrichous flagella. Some Baci ...

within the order

Bacillales Bacillales, from Latin "bacillus", meaning "little staff, wand", are an order (biology), order of Gram-positive bacteria, placed within the Bacillota. The ''Bacillales'' are the most productive order of the phylum ''Firmicutes''. Representative ...

. The type species for this genus is ''Gottfriedia luciferensis.'' Members of ''Gottfriedia'' were transferred from the polyphyletic genus ''

Bacillus ''Bacillus'', from Latin "bacillus", meaning "little staff, wand", is a genus of Gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria, a member of the phylum ''Bacillota'', with 266 named species. The term is also used to describe the shape (rod) of other so-sh ...

'', whose complicated interspecies taxonomy arose as a result of vague criteria used to assign novel bacteria into the genus. The extensive

polyphyly A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which ar ...

of the genus has been recognized as an issue by the scientific community, resulting in the publication of multiple phylogenetic studies in an effort to clarify the taxonomy of this genus. As a result, ''Bacillus'' has been restricted only include species closely related to ''

Bacillus subtilis ''Bacillus subtilis'' (), known also as the hay bacillus or grass bacillus, is a gram-positive, catalase-positive bacterium, found in soil and the gastrointestinal tract of ruminants, humans and marine sponges. As a member of the genus ''Bacill ...

'' and ''

Bacillus cereus ''Bacillus cereus'' is a Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-positive Bacillus, rod-shaped bacterium commonly found in soil, food, and marine sponges. The specific name, ''cereus'', meaning "waxy" in Latin, refers to the appearance of colonies grown o ...

'', and many species were transferred into novel genera such as '' Virgibacillus, Solibacillus,

Brevibacillus ''Brevibacillus'' is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria in the family Brevibacillaceae. Phylogeny The currently accepted taxonomy is based on the List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN) and National Center for Biotechnolo ...

'' and '' Ectobacillus.'' The name ''Gottfriedia'' was chosen to celebrate the German scientist and naturalist

Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg (19 April 1795 – 27 June 1876) was a German Natural history, naturalist, zoologist, Botany, botanist, comparative anatomist, geologist, and microscopy, microscopist. He is considered to be one of the most famous an ...

(1795–1876), who initially proposed the name Bacillus for rod-shaped and to recognize his contributions to the studies of microscopic organisms.

Biochemical Characteristics and Molecular Signatures

Source: Members of the genus ''Gottfriedia'' are either

aerobic Aerobic means "requiring air," in which "air" usually means oxygen. Aerobic may also refer to * Aerobic exercise, prolonged exercise of moderate intensity * Aerobics, a form of aerobic exercise * Aerobic respiration, the aerobic process of cellu ...

facultatively anaerobic A facultative anaerobic organism is an organism that makes ATP by aerobic respiration if oxygen is present, but is capable of switching to fermentation if oxygen is absent. Some examples of facultatively anaerobic bacteria are ''Staphylococcus' ...

. All species are

endospore An endospore is a dormant, tough, and non-reproductive structure produced by some bacteria in the phylum Bacillota. The name "endospore" is suggestive of a spore or seed-like form (''endo'' means 'within'), but it is not a true spore (i.e., not ...

-forming and some are

motile Motility is the ability of an organism to move independently using metabolic energy. This biological concept encompasses movement at various levels, from whole organisms to cells and subcellular components. Motility is observed in animals, mi ...

. ''Gottfriedia'' can survive in temperatures ranging from , but optimal growth occurs in the range of . 14 CSIs have been identified for this genus in the proteins

ABC transporter The ABC transporters, ATP synthase (ATP)-binding cassette transporters are a transport system superfamily that is one of the largest and possibly one of the oldest gene families. It is represented in all extant phyla, from prokaryotes to huma ...

substrate-binding protein, helicase-exonuclease subunit AddAB subunit AddA, MFS transporter, 3-oxoacid CoA-transferase subunit B, LTA synthase family protein, sulphate ABC transporter permease subunit CysW, class I SAM-dependent RNA methyltransferase, site-specific tyrosine recombinase XerD, 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase, 5-oxoprolinase subunit PxpB, MATE family efflux transporter, ABC transporter permease, MBL fold metallo-hydrolase and YitT family protein and is in most cases shared by all members of this genus. These molecular signatures were identified through analyses of genome sequences from ''Gottfriedia'' species and provide a reliable way to demarcate members of this genus from other ''Bacillaceae'' genera and bacteria.

Taxonomy

, there are a total of three species with validly published names in the genus ''Gottfriedia''. Members of this clade are found to form a monophyletic branch in various phylogenetic trees created based on concatenated sequences from various datasets of conserved proteins and 16S ribosomal RNA genome sequences. The branching pattern of this clade is also reflected in the

Genome Taxonomy Database The Genome Taxonomy Database (GTDB) is an online database that maintains information on a proposed nomenclature of prokaryotes, following a phylogenomic approach based on a set of conserved single-copy proteins. In addition to resolving parap ...

Phylogeny

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q107210937 Bacillaceae Bacteria genera

Biochemical Characteristics and Molecular Signatures

Taxonomy

Phylogeny

See also

References