This comprehensive review looks critically what is known about members of the genus Defluviicoccus, an example of a glycogen accumulating organism (GAO), in wastewater treatment plants, but found also in other habitats. It considers the operating conditions thought to affect its performance in activated sludge plants designed to remove phosphorus microbiologically, including the still controversial view that it competes with the polyphosphate accumulating bacterium Ca. Accumulibacter for readily biodegradable substrates in the anaerobic zone receiving the influent raw sewage. It looks at its present phylogeny and what is known about it's physiology and biochemistry under the highly selective conditions of these plants, where the biomass is recycled continuously through alternative anaerobic (feed); aerobic (famine) conditions encountered there. The impact of whole genome sequence data, which have revealed considerable intra- and interclade genotypic diversity, on our understanding of its in situ behaviour is also addressed. Particular attention is paid to the problems in much of the literature data based on clone library and next generation DNA sequencing data, where Defluviicoccus identification is restricted to genus level only. Equally problematic, in many publications no attempt has been made to distinguish between Defluviicoccus and the other known GAO, especially Ca. Competibacter, which, as shown here, has a very different ecophysiology. The impact this has had and continues to have on our understanding of members of this genus is discussed, as is the present controversy over its taxonomy. It also suggests where research should be directed to answer some of the important research questions raised in this review.

这篇综合综述批判性地审视了对 Defluviicoccus 属成员的了解，Defluviicoccus是废水处理厂中糖原累积生物 (GAO) 的一个例子，但在其他栖息地也有发现。它考虑了被认为会影响其在旨在以微生物方式去除磷的活性污泥装置中的性能的操作条件，包括仍然存在争议的观点，即它与聚磷酸盐积累细菌Ca竞争。Accumulibacter 用于接收流入的原污水的厌氧区中易于生物降解的底物。它着眼于其目前的系统发育以及在这些植物的高度选择性条件下对其生理和生物化学的了解，其中生物质通过替代厌氧（饲料）不断循环；那里遇到有氧（饥荒）条件。全基因组序列数据对我们对其原位行为的理解的影响也得到了解决，这些数据揭示了相当大的进化枝内和进化枝间基因型多样性。特别关注大量基于克隆文库和下一代 DNA 测序数据的文献数据中存在的问题，其中Defluviicoccus鉴定仅限于属水平。同样有问题的是，在许多出版物中，没有尝试区分Defluviicoccus和其他已知的 GAO，尤其是 Ca。Competibacter，如此处所示，具有非常不同的生态生理学。讨论了这已经并将继续对我们对该属成员的理解产生的影响，以及目前对其分类的争议。它还建议应将研究导向何处，以回答本次审查中提出的一些重要研究问题。