The branching order and phylogenetic placement of species from completed bacterial genomes, based on conserved indels found in various proteins

Abstract. The presence of shared conserved inserts and deletions (indels or signature sequences) in proteins provides a powerful means for understanding the evolutionary relationships among the Bacteria. Using such indels, all of the main groups within the Bacteria can be defined in clear molecular terms and it has become possible to deduce that they branched from a common ancestor in the following order: Low G+C Gram-positive → High G+C …