Verrucomicrobia is one of the most abundant, although least characterized, phyla in soil. Brewer et al. identified a new verrucomicrobial lineage, which they termed 'Candidatus Udaeobacter copiosus'. In the >1000 soil samples examined, this lineage was frequently one of the most abundant. In grassland soils in particular, 'Ca. Udaeobacter copiosus' accounted for up to 30% of the recovered taxa. The authors assembled a draft genome from one such soil sample and estimated the full genome to be approximately 2.81 Mb, which is substantially smaller than the average genome size of other soil bacteria. This genomic reduction and putative genome streamlining is reflected by a loss of versatility in metabolic pathways; however, this successful soil bacterium encodes many amino acid and vitamin transporters.
References
Brewer, T. E. et al. Genome reduction in an abundant and ubiquitous soil bacterium 'Candidatus Udaeobacter copiosus'. Nat. Microbiol. 2, 16198 (2016)
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Hofer, U. A small soil bacterium dominates. Nat Rev Microbiol 14, 729 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro.2016.174
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro.2016.174