Preparation of a DNA gene probe for detection of mercury resistance genes in gram-negative bacterial communities.
A DNA gene probe was prepared to study genetic change mechanisms responsible for adaptation to mercury in natural bacterial communities. The probe was constructed from a 2.6-kilobase NcoI-EcoRI DNA restriction fragment which spans the majority of the mercury resistance operon (mer) in the R-factor R100. The range of specificity of this gene probe was defined by hybridization to the DNA of a wide variety of mercury-resistant bacteria previously shown to possess the mercuric reductase enzyme. All of the tested gram-negative bacteria had DNA sequences homologous to the mer probe, whereas no such homologies were detected in DNA of the gram-positive strains. Thus, the mer probe can be utilized to study gene flow processes in gram-negative bacterial communities.
D001483:Base Sequence; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis*; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D008628:Mercury / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000032:analysis; D011815:R Factors
D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D010088:Oxidoreductases; C021551:mercuric reductase; D008628:Mercury