Open AccessIdentification of cyanobacteria by polymorphisms of PCR‐amplified ribosomal DNA spacer region
Author(s) -
Lu Weiqun,
Evans E.Hilary,
McColl Suzzanne M,
Saunders Venetia A
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1997.tb10475.x
Subject(s) - biology , ribosomal dna , spacer dna , primer (cosmetics) , polymerase chain reaction , restriction enzyme , ribosomal rna , genetics , restriction fragment length polymorphism , internal transcribed spacer , cyanobacteria , taq polymerase , dna , microbiology and biotechnology , gene , bacteria , phylogenetics , chemistry , thermus aquaticus , organic chemistry
The 16S‐23S ribosomal DNA spacer region of selected cyanobacterial strains was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction using primers to conserved flanking sequences. Single or multiple rDNA amplification products were generated depending on the strain and primer pair. Species could generally be distinguished on the basis of size heterogeneity of the products. Analysis of restriction digests of the amplified rDNAs indicated polymorphisms useful in identification. Four enzymes ( Hin fI, Dde I, Alu I, Taq I) generated restriction fragment length patterns that could discriminate between the cyanobacteria to the taxonomic levels of genus and species. This approach should prove useful in the rapid identification of cyanobacteria.