''Robertmurraya'' is a genus of mostly

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 ...

rod-shaped 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 ...

'' from 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 of this genus is ''Robertmurraya siralis.'' Members of ''Robertmurraya'' are previously species belonging to ''

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 ...

'', a genus that has been recognized as displaying 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 ...

and phylogenetic heterogeneity within its members. Multiple studies have been published in an attempt to clarify the evolutionary relationships between ''Bacillus'' species, resulting in the establishment of numerous novel genera such as ''

Alkalihalobacillus ''Alkalihalobacillus'' is a genus of gram-positive or gram-variable rod-shaped bacteria in the family '' Bacillaceae'' from the order ''Bacillales''. The type species of this genus is '' Alkalihalobacillus alcalophilus.'' This genus comprises sp ...

'', ''

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 ...

Solibacillus ''Solibacillus'' is a genus of Gram positive, rod shaped, spore-forming bacteria. The first member of ''Solibacillus'' was first isolated in 1999, and was originally called ''Bacillus silvestris''. However, further studies on ''B. silvestris'' f ...

'', ''

Alicyclobacillus ''Alicyclobacillus'' is a genus of Gram-variable, rod-shaped, spore-forming bacteria. The bacteria are able to grow in acidic conditions, while the spores are able to survive typical pasteurization procedures. Overview ''Alicyclobacilli'' are ...

,'' ''

Virgibacillus ''Virgibacillus'' is a genus of Gram-positive, rod-shaped (bacillus) bacteria and a member of the phylum Bacillota. ''Virgibacillus'' species can be obligate aerobes (oxygen reliant), or facultative anaerobes and catalase enzyme positive. Under s ...

'' and ''

Evansella ''Evansella'' is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-positive rod-shaped bacteria in the family ''Bacillaceae'' within the order ''Bacillales''. The type species for this genus is ''Evansella cellulosilytica.'' Members of ''Evansella'' was t ...

''. In addition, the genus ''Bacillus'' has been emended to 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 ...

.'' The name ''Robertmurraya'' was named after the Canadian microbiologist Dr

Robert G. E. Murray Robert George Everitt Murray (19 May 1919, Ruislip, West London, England – 18 February 2022, London, Ontario, Canada) was an English-Canadian bacteriologist. He is known for his research on bacterial structure and pathology, as well as bacteria ...

, University of Western Ontario, for his contributions and leadership in the field of bacterial taxonomy.

Biochemical Characteristics and Molecular Signatures

Members of this genus are

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 ...

and found in locations such as sand soil and human stool. All members can produce endospores, oxidase positive and catalase positive (with the exception of ''Robertmurraya massiliosenegalensis''). The optimal growth temperature for ''Robertmurraya'' is in the range of 30-37°C. Analyses of genome sequences from ''Robertmurraya'' species have identified three

conserved signature indels 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 ...

(CSIs) in the following proteins: hypothetical protein, sugar binding transcriptional regulator and

asparagine synthase (glutamine-hydrolysing) Asparagine synthase (glutamine-hydrolysing) (, '' asparagine synthetase (glutamine-hydrolysing)'', ''glutamine-dependent asparagine synthetase'', ''asparagine synthetase B'', ''AS'', ''AS-B'') is an enzyme with systematic name ''L-aspartate:L-gluta ...

, and in most cases are exclusively shared by either all or most members of this genus. These molecular signatures provide a reliable molecular means to distinguish members of this genus from other ''Bacillaceae'' genera and bacteria.

Taxonomy

''Robertmurraya'', as of May 2021, contains a total of 10 species with validly published names. This genus was identified as a

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

clade and phylogenetically unrelated to other ''Bacillus'' species in studies examining the taxonomic relationships within ''Bacillus''. This branching pattern is also observed 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 ...

(GTDB). Three non-validly published species, "Bacillus coreaensis", "Bacillus dakarensis" and "Bacillus yapensis", are also found to group with other members of ''Robertmurraya'' in phylogenetic trees as well as share the same molecular markers in the form of

(CSIs). However, their transfer was not officially proposed due to the lack of culture strain information indicating the need for future revision of this genus as additional genomes and novel species are discovered and assigned.

Phylogeny

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q107210954 Bacillaceae Gram-positive bacteria Bacteria genera

Biochemical Characteristics and Molecular Signatures

Taxonomy

Phylogeny

See also

References