Proteobacteria members thrive in soils and occur at high concentrations as well. Other bacterial taxa are considered much less diverse in terms of their metabolic capabilities

Question

Due to the role isolation has in discovering metabolic pathways, consider how obtaining hundreds of new isolates from a less studied phylum might change our views on metabolic diversity. Predict how the results of discovering another highly metabolically diverse group might be handled in terms of taxonomic assignment.
What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer: Regardless of novel metabolisms observed, the broad taxonomic identity of the isolates will not change. Depending on the types of metabolisms, subgroups might be considered whether certain taxa appear unified by a particular function. Analogous to the subgroups of enterics based on differences of fermentation capabilities, this could perhaps result in phenotypic assaying to infer taxonomy.