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6171857 
Book/Book Chapter 
Phylum Verrucomicrobia 
Fuerst, JA 
2019 
Academic Press 
Oxford 
Encyclopedia of Microbiology (Fourth Edition) 
551-563 
Verrucomicrobia comprise bacteria within the phylum Verrucomicrobia, most closely related to the other bacterial phyla Planctomycetes and Chlamydia, forming the PVC superphylum within domain Bacteria together with some other less known phyla. Species occur in freshwater, marine, soil habitats and in animal gut microbiomes including those of humans, and include distinct physiological types including heterotrophic aerobes and obligate anaerobes and autotrophic thermoacidophilic methane-oxidizers. Those species in genus Prosthecobacter are remarkable in possession of proteins with close homology to eukaryotic cytoskeletal tubulins, BtubA and BtubB; these have several properties such as ability to polymerize into simple microtubule-like filaments and dynamic instability similar to tubulins of eukaryotes. Cells of cultured species of at least 3 Class-level subdivisions display internal membranes forming a large cell compartment, and uncultured epixenosome symbionts of a marine protist also possess complex cell structures. Verrucomicrobia form important members of global soil microbial communities, and mucin-degrading genus Akkermansia muciniphila forms a functionally significant component of the human gut microbiome, understanding of which may prove useful for potentially improving human health. 
Akkermansia; Bacteria; Bacterial cell biology; Bacterial compartmentalization; Epixenosomes; Eukaryote-like proteins; Gut microbiome; Microbial ecology; Prosthecobacter; Soil microbiology; Tubulins; Verrucomicrobia; Verrucomicrobiaceae; Verrucomicrobiales; Verrucomicrobium 
Schmidt, Thomas M.