Open AccessChromosome mapping in lactic acid bacteria
Author(s) -
Le Bourgeois Pascal,
Lautier Martine,
Ritzenthaler Paul
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
fems microbiology reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.91
H-Index - 212
eISSN - 1574-6976
pISSN - 0168-6445
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6976.1993.tb00014.x
Subject(s) - biology , pulsed field gel electrophoresis , genome , bacteria , chromosome , strain (injury) , circular bacterial chromosome , lactic acid , genetics , genome size , bacterial genome size , computational biology , gene , genotype , anatomy
The chromosome structure of lactic acid bacteria has been investigated only recently. The development of pulsed‐field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) combined with other DNA‐based techniques enables whole‐genome analysis of any bacterium, and has allowed rapid progress to be made in the knowledge of the lactic acid bacteria genome. Lactic acid bacteria possess one of the smallest eubacterial chromosomes. Depending on the species, the genome sizes range from 1.1 to 2.6 Mb. Combined physical and genetic maps of several species are already available or close to being achieved. Knowledge of the genomic structure of these organisms will serve as a basis for future genetic studies. Macrorestriction fingerprinting by PFGE is already one of the major tools for strain differentiation, identification of individual strains, and the detection of strain lineages. The genome data resulting from these studies will be of general application strain improvement.