Phylogenetic framework and molecular signatures for the class Chloroflexi and its different clades; proposal for division of the class Chloroflexia class. nov. [corrected] into the suborder Chloroflexineae subord. nov., consisting of the emended family Oscillochloridaceae and the family Chloroflexaceae fam. nov., and the suborder Roseiflexineae subord. nov., containing the family Roseiflexaceae fam. nov.

The phylum "Chloroflexi" contains highly divergent groups of bacteria. To understand the evolutionary relationships among these bacteria, phylogenetic trees were constructed based upon concatenated sequences for 20 conserved proteins and comparative genomic analyses were carried out to identify molecular markers (conserved signature indels or CSIs) that are specific for different clades of Chloroflexi. In phylogenetic trees based upon either concatenated protein sequences or the 16S rRNA gene, species from the class Chloroflexi and the order Chloroflexales formed strongly supported clades.