In the microbial world,an "operational taxonomic unit" is defined as any group of microbes that share at least __________ sequence identity of their SSU gene.

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Operational taxonomic units (OTUs) are defined as groups of microorganisms that share at least 97% sequence identity of their SSU (small subunit) rRNA gene. This is a commonly accepted threshold for defining bacterial and archaeal species based on sequence similarity. OTUs are often used in microbial ecology studies to assess diversity and compare community composition across different samples or environments.

In the Microbial World,an "Operational Taxonomic Unit" Is Defined as Any