Beggiatoales

An order of filamentous or unicellular bacteria that move by gliding over the substrate, hence their common name gliding bacteria. Many of its members (the filamentous sulphur bacteria) grow by oxidizing sulphides. The genus Beggiatoa has certain features in common with the blue-green alga Oscillatoria. It has been suggested that some of the Beggiatoaceae are colourless blue-green algae.