16S RIBOSOMAL-RNA GENE PROBES FOR DEINOCOCCUS SPECIES

Oligonucleotide probes specific for members of the unusually radiation -resistant genus Deinococcus were designed and tested. Putative probes were identified by selecting 16S rRNA gene sequences unique to Deinoc occus radiodurans UWO 298 (ATCC 35073). Hybridization of the probes to six Deinococcus strains representing the five species in the genus re vealed probes that were strain-, species- and genus-specific. Nucleic acid hybridization could be used to assess the abundance of deinococci in the environment whose presence may be an indicator of high-radiati on flux.