Sequencing of the Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Region for Strain Identification of <i>Porphyromonas gingivalis</i>

Abstract

The ribosomal intergenic spacer regions (ISRs) of 19 laboratory strains and 30 clinical samples of Porphyromonas gingivalis were amplified by PCR and sequenced to provide a strain identifier. The ISR is a variable region of DNA located between the conserved 16S and 23S rRNA genes. This makes it an ideal locus for differentiation of strains within a species: primers specific for the conserved flanking genes were used to amplify the ISR, which was then sequenced to identify the strain. We have constructed a P. gingivalis ISR sequence database to facilitate strain identification. ISR sequence analysis provides a strain identifier that can be easily reproduced among laboratories and catalogued for unambiguous comparison.