This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow An author's correction has been published
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Antón, A. I.
Right arrow Articles by Rodríguez-Valera, F.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Antón, A. I.
Right arrow Articles by Rodríguez-Valera, F.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, May 1999, p. 2703-2709, Vol. 181, No. 9
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Intraspecific Diversity of the 23S rRNA Gene and the Spacer Region Downstream in Escherichia coli

Ana I. Antón, Antonio J. Martínez-Murcia,dagger and Francisco Rodríguez-Valera*

Unidad de Microbiología, Centro de Biología Molecular y Celular, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Campus de San Juan, 03550 San Juan, Alicante, Spain

Received 28 December 1998/Accepted 3 March 1999

The molecular microevolution of the 23S rRNA gene (rrl) plus the spacer downstream has been studied by sequencing of different operons from some representative strains of the Escherichia coli ECOR collection. The rrl gene was fully sequenced in six strains showing a total of 67 polymorphic sites, a level of variation per nucleotide similar to that found for the 16S rRNA gene (rrs) in a previous study. The size of the gene was highly conserved (2902 to 2905 nucleotides). Most polymorphic sites were clustered in five secondary-structure helices. Those regions in a large number of operons were sequenced, and several variations were found. Sequences of the same helix from two different strains were often widely divergent, and no intermediate forms existed. Intercistronic variability was detected, although it seemed to be lower than for the rrs gene. The presence of two characteristic sequences was determined by PCR analysis throughout all of the strains of the ECOR collection, and some correlations with the multilocus enzyme electrophoresis clusters were detected. The mode of variation of the rrl gene seems to be quite similar to that of the rrs gene. Homogenization of the gene families and transfer of sequences from different clonal lines could explain this pattern of variation detected; perhaps these factors are more relevant to evolution than single mutation. The spacer region between the 23S and 5S rRNA genes exhibited a highly polymorphic region, particularly at the 3' end.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Unidad de Microbiología, Centro de Biología Molecular y Celular, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Campus de San Juan, Apartado 18, 03550 San Juan, Alicante, Spain. Phone: 965919451. Fax: 965919457. E-mail: FRVALERA{at}UMH.ES.

dagger Present address: Departamento de Biotecnología, Universidad de Alicante, E-03080 Alicante, Spain.


Journal of Bacteriology, May 1999, p. 2703-2709, Vol. 181, No. 9
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Sadeghifard, N., Gurtler, V., Beer, M., Seviour, R. J. (2006). The Mosaic Nature of Intergenic 16S-23S rRNA Spacer Regions Suggests rRNA Operon Copy Number Variation in Clostridium difficile Strains. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 7311-7323 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hunt, D. E., Klepac-Ceraj, V., Acinas, S. G., Gautier, C., Bertilsson, S., Polz, M. F. (2006). Evaluation of 23S rRNA PCR Primers for Use in Phylogenetic Studies of Bacterial Diversity.. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 2221-2225 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Boucher, Y., Douady, C. J., Sharma, A. K., Kamekura, M., Doolittle, W. F. (2004). Intragenomic Heterogeneity and Intergenomic Recombination among Haloarchaeal rRNA Genes. J. Bacteriol. 186: 3980-3990 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Mitterer, G., Huber, M., Leidinger, E., Kirisits, C., Lubitz, W., Mueller, M. W., Schmidt, W. M. (2004). Microarray-Based Identification of Bacteria in Clinical Samples by Solid-Phase PCR Amplification of 23S Ribosomal DNA Sequences. J. Clin. Microbiol. 42: 1048-1057 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wenner, T., Roth, V., Decaris, B., Leblond, P. (2002). Intragenomic and intraspecific polymorphism of the 16S-23S rDNA internally transcribed sequences of Streptomyces ambofaciens. Microbiology 148: 633-642 [Abstract] [Full Text]