This document summarizes a study that reconstructed 7,903 bacterial and archaeal genomes from over 1,500 public metagenomes. Key findings include:
- The genomes increase phylogenetic diversity of bacterial and archaeal trees by over 30% and provide first representatives for 17 bacterial and 3 archaeal candidate phyla.
- 245 genomes were recovered from the Patescibacteria superphylum.
- The genomes vary substantially in quality, with 43.5% considered near-complete, 43.8% medium quality, and 12.7% partial.
- The genomes expand representation of underrepresented phyla like Aminicenantes, Gemmatimonadetes, and Lentisphaera