FIG. 8.

Consensus neighbor-joining tree for prokaryotic organisms based on Hsp70 protein sequences. The tree, which was bootstrapped 100 times, is based on 362 aligned positions for which sequence information from all species are known. Other trees based on larger numbers of aligned characters also show similar results (see Fig. 27) (57, 103, 108). The archaebacterial species (marked with asterisks) show a polyphyletic branching within gram-positive bacteria (both monoderm prokaryotes), which is statistically strongly supported (95, 108). The gram-negative bacteria (diderm prokaryotes) form a distinct clade in 99% of the bootstraps, which is highly significant. The relationships and branching orders of some of the main divisions within eubacteria are indicated.