title: The use of RAPD genomic fingerprinting to study relatedness in strains of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans.
abstract: Twelve strains of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans were recovered from acid mine drainage (AMD) sites from three different geographical locations: Copper Cliff, Ontario, Canada; Mineral City, OH, USA; and Cornwall, England. The spread-plate technique and various culture media were used to isolate and purify all strains. DNA was extracted from each purified culture and amplified using PCR and twenty, 10-mer primers. Amplification products were separated by gel electrophoresis and photographed under UV light. The RAPD (Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA) profiles were compared on the basis of the presence or absence of each DNA band and a data matrix was constructed. Strain diversity was calculated using the Jaccard's coefficient and UPGMA (Unweighted Pair-Group Arithmetic Average Clustering) cluster analysis. The variations in the banding patterns indicated genomic variability among the twelve A. ferrooxidans strains tested. The primers used in this study grouped the twelve strains into five major groups. Similarities between the strains ranged from 5.49% to 85.14%. These results show that the strains have a high degree of genomic diversity and that the RAPD procedure is a powerful technique to assess strain variability in this bacterium.
authors.affiliation: Science Program, Science North, Sudbury, ON, Canada P3E 5S9.
authors.forename: Danielle R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Waltenbury
authors.forename: L G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Leduc
authors.forename: G D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Ferroni
mesh_terms: D042763:Acidithiobacillus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D014644:Genetic Variation; D007220:Industrial Waste; D008906:Mining; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D007220:Industrial Waste