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Evidence for genetic divergence in ribosomal RNA genes in mycobacteria
Author(s) -
Cox Robert A.,
Katoch Vishwa M.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/0014-5793(86)80159-4
Subject(s) - ribosomal rna , biology , restriction enzyme , dna , gene , agarose gel electrophoresis , mycobacterium phlei , mycobacterium smegmatis , microbiology and biotechnology , endonuclease , genetics , mycobacterium , bacteria , mycobacterium tuberculosis , tuberculosis , medicine , pathology
DNA was isolated from Mycobacterium phlei and from M. smegmatis . Each DNA sample was restricted with endonucleases, the fragments were separated by agarose gel electrophoresis and transferred to nitrocellulose film. Fragments of DNA containing rRNA sequences were identified by means of 125 I‐labelled rRNA of M. phlei or of M. smegmatis . The distributions of restriction endonuclease sites within the rRNA gene(s) and flanking sequences were found to be characteristic for each of the two species. Hybridizations with heterologous probes indicate that although M. phlei rRNA and M. smegmatis rRNA share regions of sequence homology, they are probably not identical in primary structure. The results suggest that the rRNA genes might prove to be useful taxonomic markers for mycobacteria.