|
pubmed:abstractText |
The taxonomy of myxobacteria is based mainly on their morphological characteristics. The genus Sorangium belongs to the myxobacterial suborder Sorangiineae. Strains in the genus were classified either as one species, Sorangium cellulosum, by ignoring divergent morphological characteristics, or into several species; however, the latter classification is based on some dubious morphological characteristics and is inconsistent with the phylogeny constructed from 16S rRNA gene sequences. In this study, two HSP60 (groEL1 and groEL2) genes were amplified and sequenced from 22 Sorangium strains. The groEL1 and groEL2 gene sequences were highly conserved in Sorangium strains, suggesting that these two paralogous genes both play important roles in the life cycle. The phylogeny constructed by the groEL genes was rather consistent with the morphological characteristics of sporangioles. Including information from the phylogenetic analysis and morphological characteristics, it is suggested that the genus Sorangium includes two species.
|
