RAPID DIFFERENTIATION OF PREVOTELLA-INTERMEDIA AND P-NIGRESCENS BY 16S RDNA PCR-RFLP

Prevotella intermedia and the newly described P. nigrescens cannot be reliably distinguished by phenotypic tests, In this study, restriction endonuclease digestion of amplified 16S rDNA (16S rDNA PCR-RFLP) was used to generate restriction profiles of the type strains of P. interm edia and P. nigrescens and 43 fresh isolates identified as belonging t o one of the two species, Whole-cell protein profiles were obtained by SDS-PAGE for comparative purposes, The type strains of P. intermedia and P. nigrescens were easily distinguished by 16S rDNA PCR-RFLP and t he fresh isolates were assigned to either species on the basis of thei r restriction profiles. The identifications obtained were identical to those obtained by protein profiles. 16S rDNA PCR-RFLP is a rapid and reliable method for the differentiation of P. intermedia and P. nigres cens.