We describe an approach for determining the genetic composition ofBacteroides and Prevotellapopulations in gut contents based on selective amplification of 16S rRNA gene sequences (rDNA) followed by cleavage of the amplified material with restriction enzymes. The relative contributions of different ribotypes to total Bacteroides andPrevotella 16S rDNA are estimated after end labelling of one of the PCR primers, and the contribution ofBacteroides and Prevotellasequences to total eubacterial 16S rDNA is estimated by measuring the binding of oligonucleotide probes to amplified DNA.Bacteroides and Prevotella 16S rDNA accounted for between 12 and 62% of total eubacterial 16S rDNA in samples of ruminal contents from six sheep and a cow. Ribotypes 4, 5, 6, and 7, which include most cultivated rumen Prevotellastrains, together accounted for between 20 and 86% of the total amplified Bacteroides andPrevotella rDNA in these samples. The most abundantBacteroides or Prevotella ribotype in four animals, however, was ribotype 8, for which there is only one known cultured isolate, while ribotypes 1 and 2, which include many colonic Bacteroides spp., were the most abundant in two animals. This indicates that some abundantBacteroides and Prevotella groups in the rumen are underrepresented among cultured rumenPrevotella isolates. The approach described here provides a rapid, convenient, and widely applicable method for comparing the genotypic composition of bacterial populations in gut samples.
Molecular biology approaches were employed to examine the genetic diversity of bacteria from the Cytophaga/Flexibacter/Bacteroides (CFB) phylum in the rumen of cattle. By this means we were able to identify cultured strains that represent some of the larger CFB clusters previously identified only by PCR amplification and sequencing. Complete 16S rDNA sequences were obtained for 16 previously isolated rumen strains, including the type strains of Prevotella ruminicola, P. bryantii, P. brevis and P. albensis to represent a wide range of diversity. Phylogenetic analysis of cultured strains revealed the existence of three clusters of ruminal CFB: (i) a cluster of Prevotella strains, which have been found only in the rumen, including the two type strains, P. brevis GA33(T) and P. ruminicola 23(T); (ii) Prevotella spp. that cluster with prevotellas from other ecological niches such as the oral cavity and which include the type strains, P. bryantii B(1)4(T) and P. albensis M384(T); (iii) two Bacteroides spp. strains clustering with B. forsythus of oral origin. In order to establish whether the cultivated isolates cover the whole range of ruminal CFB genetic diversity, 16S rRNA gene sequences were amplified and cloned from DNA extracted from the same rumen samples (one cow in Slovenia, one in Scotland and three in Japan). Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA genes confirmed the existence of two superclusters of ruminal Prevotella, one exclusively ruminal and the other including non-ruminal species. In the case of ruminal Bacteroides spp., however, phylogenetic analysis revealed the existence of three new superclusters, one of which has as yet no cultivable counterpart. Interestingly, these Bacteroides clusters were represented almost exclusively by clone libraries from the Japanese cattle and only three sequences were from the European cattle. This study agrees with previous analyses in showing that rumen Prevotella/Bacteroides strains exhibit a remarkable degree of genetic diversity and suggests that different strain groupings may differ greatly in their recovery by cultural methods. The most important conclusion, however, is that cultured strains can be identified that represent some of the larger clusters previously identified only by PCR amplification and sequencing.
A simple, rapid and sensitive PCR‐based method was developed for the detection of all five subspecies of Erwinia carotovora, including subsp. carotovora and subsp. atroseptica, and all pathovars/biovars of Erwinia chrysanthemi, on plant tissue culture material. Primers SR3F and SR1cR, based on a conserved region of the 16S rRNA gene, amplified a DNA fragment of 119 bp from all 65 such strains tested. Detection limits of the method in vitro were 2·0 × 102–3·4 × 103 cfu ml−1 (equivalent to 1–17 cfu per PCR) and, following extraction of genomic DNA from plant extract, detection limits were 2·3 × 102–1·9 × 104 cfu per microplant sample (equivalent to 5 cfu – 3·8 × 102 cfu per PCR). To improve the sensitivity of the method in planta, to obviate the need for complex and laborious DNA extractions, and to remove inhibitory substances present in the plant extract, an enrichment step was included prior to PCR. Following enrichment, the sensitivity of detection was <10 cfu per microplant sample. This method provides the first sensitive means of detecting latent infection caused by several economically important soft rot erwinias simultaneously on potato tissue culture material.
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