Three truths
- Timed
- Branched off about 3.3 billion years ago · the last 79% of life's story
- Named
- ≈3,000 named living species · 0.2% of all named
- Weighed
- Part of Bacteria (≈70 Gt C), not measured separately.
Bacteria · phylum
Actinomycetota (Actinobacteria)
Actinomycetota
Living · roughly 3,000 described species
Bacteria long known as Actinobacteria, common in soil. Some grow as branching threads, and they are the source of many antibiotics.
Soil microbes behind the smell of rain on earth, and the source of many antibiotics.
Key characteristics
- Gram-positive
- Streptomyces produce many antibiotics
- Some give damp soil its earthy smell
- Habitat
- Mostly soil and decaying plant matter
- Branched off
- About 3.3 billion years ago (approximate)
- Parent lineage
- Terrabacteria
Classification
Sources
- Actinomycetota (Wikipedia) · Wikipedia
- TimeTree: the timescale of life · TimeTree
- Open Tree of Life · Open Tree of Life
- Tree of Life Web Project · Tree of Life Web Project