Fig. 1

a Correlation between 16S rRNA gene sequence conservation and taxonomic classification. Pairwise genetic distances between Myxococcales 16S rRNA gene sequences (substitutions per nucleotide position), plotted in rank order. Distances cluster into four distinct groups: 1. Ho/Pp vs. Sc/Ca vs. Mx/Mf/Cc/Sa/AK/AF/Ad1/AdC and Ho vs. Pp (comparisons mainly between sub-orders), 2. AK/AF/Ad1/AdC vs. Mx/Mf/Cc/Sa (comparisons within a sub-order – across the extended Myxococcaceae family), 3. Sc vs. Ca, and AK/Ad1/AdC vs. AF, and Mx/Mf vs. Cc vs. Sa (comparisons within families), and 4. AK vs. Ad1 vs. AdC, and Mx vs. Mf (comparisons within a genus). See text for abbreviations. b Phylogenetic tree with distances discretised into four vertical bands as grouped in part A