title: The phylogeny of purple bacteria:  the alpha subdivision.
abstract: The technique of oligonucleotide cataloging shows the purple photosynthetic eubacteria to comprise three major subdivisions, temporarily called alpha, beta, and gamma--previously designated groups I-III by Gibson et al. (1979).  Each subdivision contains a number of non-photosynthetic genera in addition to the photosynthetic ones.  The alpha subdivision, the subject of the present report, contains most but not all of the species that fall into the classically defined genera Rhodospirillum, Rhodopseudomonas and Rhodomicrobium.  Intermingled with these are a variety of non-photosynthetic species from genera such as Agrobacterium, Rhizobium, Azospirillum, Nitrobacter, Erythrobacter, Phenylobacterium, Aquaspirillum, and Paracoccus.  The phylogenetic substructure of the alpha subdivision is presented and the evolutionary significance of the admixture of biochemical phenotypes is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Development, University of Illinois, Urbana 61801, USA.
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Woese
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stackebrandt
authors.forename: W G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Weisburg
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Paster
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Madigan
authors.forename: V J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Fowler
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Hahn
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Blanz
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Nealson
authors.forename: G E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Fox
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003574:Cytochrome c Group / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D012329:RNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D012244:Rhodospirillaceae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D003574:Cytochrome c Group; D009841:Oligonucleotides; D012329:RNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S