title: The dnaJ gene as a novel phylogenetic marker for identification of Vibrio species.
abstract: The utility of the dnaJ gene for identifying Vibrio species was investigated by analyzing dnaJ sequences of 57 type strains and 22 clinical strains and comparing sequence homologies with those of the 16S rDNA gene and other housekeeping genes (recA, rpoA, hsp60). Among the 57 Vibrio species, the mean sequence similarity of the dnaJ gene (77.9%) was significantly less than that of the 16S rDNA gene (97.2%), indicating a high discriminatory power of the dnaJ gene. Most Vibrio species were, therefore, differentiated well by dnaJ sequence analysis. Compared to other housekeeping genes, the dnaJ gene showed better resolution than recA or rpoA for differentiating Vibrio coralliilyticus from Vibrio neptunius and Vibrio harveyi from Vibrio rotiferianus. Among the clinical strains, all 22 human pathogenic strains, including an atypical strain, were correctly identified by the dnaJ sequence. Our findings suggest that analysis of the dnaJ gene sequence can be used as a new tool for the identification of Vibrio species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Regeneration and Advanced Medical Science, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu, Japan.
authors.forename: Pham Hong
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Nhung
authors.forename: Mohammad Monir
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Kiyofumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohkusu
authors.forename: Makiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Noda
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hata
authors.forename: Xiao Song
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Hirotoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Iihara
authors.forename: Keiichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Masaki
authors.forename: Jiro
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Miyasaka
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ezaki
mesh_terms: D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques / Q000379:methods; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D050956:HSP40 Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D010802:Phylogeny; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013045:Species Specificity; D014733:Vibrio / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D014735:Vibrio Infections / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D050956:HSP40 Heat-Shock Proteins