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Actinobacteria{{Taxobox | color = lightgrey | name = Actinobacteria | regnum = Bacteria | phylum = Actinobacteria | phylum_authority = Margulis, 1974 | subdivision_ranks = Classes | subdivision = Actinobacteria }} The Actinobacteria or Actinomycetes are a group of Gram-positivebacteria. Most are found in the soil, and they include some of the most common soil life, playing an important role in decomposition of organic materials, such as celluloseand chitin. This replenishes the supply of nutrients in the soil and is an important part of humusformation. Other Actinobacteria inhabit plants and animals, including a few pathogens, such as Mycobacterium. Some Actinobacteria form braching filaments, which somewhat resemble the myceliaof the unrelated fungi, among which they were originally classified under the older name Actinomycetes. Most members are aerobic, but a few, such as Actinomyces israelii, can grow under anaerobic conditions. Unlike the Firmicutes, the other main group of Gram-positive bacteria, they have DNA with a high GC-contentand some Actinomycetes species produce external spores. Representative genera include:
Actinobacteria are unsurpassed in their ability to produce many compounds that have pharmaceutically useful properties. In 1940Selman Waksmandiscovered that the soil bacteriahe was studying made actinomycin, a discovery which granted him a Nobel Prize. Since then hundreds of naturally occurring antibioticshave been discovered in these terrestrial microorganisms, especially from the genus Streptomyces. References
es:Actinobacteria fr:Actinobacteria nl:Actinomyces nn:Actinomyces zh:????
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