16S rRNA Gene Sequencing for Bacterial Identification in the Diagnostic Laboratory: Pluses, Perils, and Pitfalls
Year: 2007
Type: article
Abstract: The use of 16S rRNA gene sequences to study bacterial phylogeny and taxonomy has been by far the most common housekeeping genetic marker used for a number of reasons. These reasons include (i) its presence in almost all bacteria, often existing as a multigene family, or operons; (ii) the func-tion of the 16S rRNA gene over time has not changed, sug-gesting that random sequence changes are a more accurate measure of time (evolution); and (iii) the 16S rRNA gene (1,500 bp) is large enough for informatics purposes (12). In 1980 in the Approved Lists, 1,791 valid names were recognized at the rank of species. Today, this number has ballooned to 8,168 species, a 456 % increase
Source: Journal of Clinical Microbiology
DOI: 10.1128/jcm.01228-07
Authors: J. Michael Janda, Sharon L. Abbott
Institution: California Department of Public Health
Language: English
Subfield: Microbiology (medical)
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2159008215