Fertabacteria
{{Automatic taxobox
| taxon = Fertabacteria
| authority = Dudek et al. 2017
}}
Fertabacteria is a candidate bacterial phylum of the Candidate Phyla Radiation, first proposed in 2017 after analysis of a genome from the mouth of a bottlenose dolphin. Members of this phylum are predicted to have been widely under-detected in 16S rRNA gene-based surveys of community composition due to mismatches between commonly used primers and the corresponding primer site. Fertabacteria have been retroactively detected in a variety of environments.
Description
Fertabacteria is a bacterial phylum candidate status, meaning there are no cultured representatives from this phylum to date. It is a member of the Candidate Phyla Radiation and may be a sister phylum to Peregrinibacteria.{{Cite journal|last1=Dudek|first1=Natasha K.|last2=Sun|first2=Christine L.|last3=Burstein|first3=David|last4=Kantor|first4=Rose S.|last5=Goltsman|first5=Daniela S. Aliaga|last6=Bik|first6=Elisabeth M.|last7=Thomas|first7=Brian C.|last8=Banfield|first8=Jillian F.|last9=Relman|first9=David A.|date=2017-12-18|title=Novel Microbial Diversity and Functional Potential in the Marine Mammal Oral Microbiome|journal=Current Biology|language=English|volume=27|issue=24|pages=3752–3762.e6|doi=10.1016/j.cub.2017.10.040|issn=0960-9822|pmid=29153320|doi-access=free|bibcode=2017CBio...27E3752D }}
History
The Fertabacteria phylum was first proposed in 2017 following the recovery and analysis of a genome from the mouth of a bottlenose dolphin. Members of this phylum are predicted to have been widely under-detected in 16S rRNA gene-based surveys of community composition due to mismatches between commonly used primers and the corresponding primer site, as has been observed for many other members of the Candidate Phyla Radiation.{{Cite journal|last1=Brown|first1=Christopher T.|last2=Hug|first2=Laura A.|last3=Thomas|first3=Brian C.|last4=Sharon|first4=Itai|last5=Castelle|first5=Cindy J.|last6=Singh|first6=Andrea|last7=Wilkins|first7=Michael J.|last8=Wrighton|first8=Kelly C.|last9=Williams|first9=Kenneth H.|last10=Banfield|first10=Jillian F.|date=2015-07-09|title=Unusual biology across a group comprising more than 15% of domain Bacteria|journal=Nature|volume=523|issue=7559|pages=208–211|doi=10.1038/nature14486|issn=1476-4687|pmid=26083755|bibcode=2015Natur.523..208B|osti=1512215|s2cid=4397558|url=https://escholarship.org/content/qt9ks7v8nv/qt9ks7v8nv.pdf}} The name "Fertabacteria" was proposed in recognition of this characteristic, as "ferta" is Latin for "tricky".
Members of the Fertabacteria have been detected (retroactively) in a variety of environments, including the Caribbean coral Montastrea faveolata ([https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/FJ403053.1/ FJ403053.1]), the Guerrero Negro hypersaline microbial mat ([https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/JN443099.1/ JN443099.1]), and the surface of marine macro-alga Ulva australis ([https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/DQ269036.1/ DQ269036]).