Gracilicutes (Latin: gracilis, slender, and cutis, skin, referring to the cell wall) is a taxon created by Cavalier-Smith, which he believes to be a clade comprising the Proteobacteria, the Planctobacteria (comprising Chlamydiae and Planctomycetes), the Sphingobacteria (comprising the green sulfur bacteria and Bacteroidetes), and Spirochaetae. It is a Gram-negative clade that branched off from other bacteria just before the evolutionary loss of the outer membrane or capsule, and just after the evolution of flagella.
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