Phylogenetic analysis of the mycoplasmas.

The phylogenetic relationships between the mycoplasmas and bacteria have been established from a comparative analysis of their 16S rRNA oligonucleotide catalogs. The genera Mycoplasma, Spiroplasma, and Acholeplasma arose by degenerative evolution, as a deep branch of the subline of clostridial ancestry that led to Bacillus and Lactobacillus. Thermoplasma has no specific relationship to the other mycoplasmas; it belongs with the archaebacteria.