title: RNA polymerase beta-subunit gene (rpoB) sequence analysis for the identification of Bacteroides spp.
abstract: Partial rpoB sequences (317 bp) of 11 species of Bacteroides, two Porphyromonas spp. and two Prevotella spp. were compared to delineate the genetic relationships among Bacteroides and closely related anaerobic species. The high level of inter-species sequence dissimilarities (7.6-20.8%) allowed the various Bacteroides spp. to be distinguished. The position of the Bacteroides distasonis and Bacteriodes merdae cluster in the rpoB tree was different from the position in the 16S rRNA gene tree. Based on rpoB sequence similarity and clustering in the rpoB tree, it was possible to correctly re-identify 80 clinical isolates of Bacteroides. In addition to two subgroups, cfiA-negative (division I) and cfiA-positive (division II), of Bacteroides fragilis isolates, two distinct subgroups were also found among Bacteroides ovatus and Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron isolates. Bacteroides genus-specific rpoB PCR and B. fragilis species-specific rpoB PCR allowed Bacteroides spp. to be differentiated from Porphyromonas and Prevotella spp., and also allowed B. fragilis to be differentiated from other non-fragilisBacteroides spp. included in the present study.
authors.affiliation: Asian-Pacific Research Foundation for Infectious Diseases (ARFID) and Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kuwahara
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Haehwa
authors.forename: Y-J
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: B-J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: K-H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohnishi
authors.forename: Y-H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kook
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001439:Bacteroides / Q000145:classification*; D001442:Bacteroides Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000235:genetics*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020539:Sequence Analysis, Protein; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases