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The term bacilli (sing. bacillus) is used to refer to any rod-shaped bacteria. As a formal taxon, the Bacilli (always capitalized) are a class of Firmicutes, including Bacillus and various other Gram-positive bacteria, such as Staphylococcus and Listeria.
The relationships among the Bacilli are still somewhat uncertain. They appear to be paraphyletic, giving rise to the Mollicutes and possibly others. They may form two separate groups, forms like Bacillus that produce endospores and forms that do not, including the Lactobacillales.
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