Turkish Journal of Biology

Typing of Some Clinically Significant Nocardia Strains Using a Digoxigenin-Labelled rDNA Gene Probe
Kamil IŞIK, Nevzat ŞAHİN, Ergin KARİPTAŞ
University of Ondokuz Mayıs, Faculty of Arts and Science, Department of Biology, 55139, Kurupelit, Samsun - TURKEY
Michael GOODFELLOW*
Newcastle University, The Medical School, Department of Microbiology, Newcastle, NE2 4HH, U.K

Abstract: In this study, ribotyping (restriction polymorphism ribosomal RNA analyses) was applied as a taxonomic tool for bacteria belonging to the genus Nocardia. A total of 21 Nocardia strains were clearly distinguished using a combination of EcoRV gene restriction endonuclease patterns together with a digoxigenin-labelled Streptomyces violaceoruber TK21 rDNA probe. Five distinct ribotypes were identified, and each ribotype contained 4 to 8 restriction fragments ranging in size from 1.2 to 20.7 kb. The evaluation of the results showed that N. brasiliensis, N. farcinica, N. otitidiscaviarum and N. seriolea are taxonomically well-established species, except N. pseudobrasiliensis. Therefore, it can be concluded that ribotyping technique provide a useful information for the classification of clinically significant Nocardia.

Key Words: Nocardia, Ribotyping, Taxonomy

Turk. J. Biol., 26, (2002), 1-8.
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