Towards a balanced view of the bacterial tree of life

Abstract

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.

Keywords

• Bacteria
• Bacterial diversity
• Tree of life
• Small subunit (SSU) rRNA
• Candidate Phyla Radiation (CPR)
• Microbial dark matter (MDM)