Fig. 5

Phylogenomic tree of genomes from the family Rhodospirillaceae using the PhyloPhlAn method. Bacterial genomes from Aquificae and Cyanobacteria were also selected as out groups. Different colors represent distinct features within the Rhodospirillaceae family. The gray and pink colors represent magnetotactic and phototrophic bacteria, respectively. Five groups were defined based on the topology of the phylogenomic tree, namely, Magnetospirillum and Phaeospirillum (Group I); Rhodospirillum, Pararhodospirillum, Novispirillum, Caenispirillum and Haematospirillum (Group II); Terasakiella, Thalassospira, Magnetospira and Magnetovibrio (Group III); Nisaea, Thalassobaculum, Oceanibaculum, Fodinicurvata and Rhodovibrio, (Group IV); and Azospirillum, Niveispirillum, Nitrospirillum, Skermanella, Rhodocista (Rhodospirillum centenum SW), Dongia, Elstera and Inquilinus (Group V). The drawing pins in the nodes of Groups I, II and III indicate that these three groups have a common ancestor that contains both magnetosome synthesis (gray pushpin) and photosynthesis genes (pink pushpin)