Chapter Two Molecular Markers for Photosynthetic Bacteria and Insights into the Origin and Spread of Photosynthesis

Microbial genomes provide a rich resource for identifying molecular markers that can reliably distinguish different groups of photosynthetic organisms and provide insights into the origin and spread of photosynthesis. This review summarises work on molecular markers consisting of conserved signature indels (CSIs) and signature proteins that are specific for different phyla of photosynthetic bacteria and their major subclades. Based upon these …