Rapid determination of bacterial ribosomal RNA sequences by direct sequencing of enzymatically amplified DNA

Abstract

Ribosomal RNA sequences are an appealing target for bacterial classification as well as for development of group- or species-specific DNA probes. Using the polymerase chain reaction and synthetic primers, the feasibility of this gene amplification technique for rapid sequence determination of the major 16S ribosomal RNA domains from small amounts of input DNA is demonstrated. Information useful for phylogenetic classification as well as for construction of specific DNA probes may be obtained by comparison with known sequences.