[7][8] The concept of membrane-bound genetic material has been described as a "cell plan" unique to a proposed PVC superphylum composed of the Planctomycetota, Verrucomicrobiota, and Chlamydiota and distinct from the rest of the Gram-negative bacteria.

The question of whether G. obscuriglobus and other members of the PVC group possess closed internal membranes and therefore have a unique "cell plan" is considered important in understanding the evolution of membrane-bound compartments, which are often considered a distinguishing feature between eukaryotes and prokaryotes; the lineage that gave rise to the PVC superphylum is speculated to be related to an "intermediate" state between prokaryotes and eukaryotes.

[4][9][10][11][12][13] Three-dimensional tomogram reconstructions of whole cells reported in 2013 suggest that contrary to historical belief, G. obscuriglobus membranes are continuous and do not enclose distinct cellular compartments.

[6] Early characterization of G. obscuriglobus found that it lacked a traditional Gram-negative peptidoglycan (PG) cell wall and instead possessed a proteinaceous exterior layer,[15] later described as possibly analogous to an archaeal S-layer.

[16] A 2015 study of several Planctomycetota including G. obscuriglobus identified the presence of a PG cell wall following the typical Gram-negative structure by both biochemical and bioinformatic analysis.

[18] However, three-dimensional reconstructions indicate that DNA is never surrounded by a closed membrane in a newly created bud, but instead is free to diffuse from the mother to daughter cell cytoplasm after the "neck" between the mother and daughter cell membranes, initially as narrow as 30 nanometers, widens sufficiently to accommodate condensed DNA.

It possesses unusual genetic infrastructure, lacking a key component of most bacterial cell division processes, the protein FtsZ.