Approaches to the study of the systematics of anaerobic, gram-negative, non-sporeforming rods: current status and perspectives.

The present article gives an overview of recent taxonomic changes among the Gram-negative, anaerobic rods, briefly highlighting areas where the biology and ecology have a bearing on recent nomenclatorial changes. The focus is among the genera Bacteroides, Prevotella, Porphyromonas, Leptotrichia, Dysgonomonas, Fusobacterium and the Synergistes group and additionally demonstrates the value of conserved indels and group-specific proteins for identifying and circumscribing many of these taxa and the Bacteroidetes-Chlorobi species in general.