THE USE OF ARBITRARILY PRIMED PCR (AP-PCR) TO DEVELOP TAXA SPECIFIC DNA PROBES OF KNOWN SEQUENCE

A rapid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method to obtain taxa-specific DNA probes has been developed. The oligonucleotide probes derived fro m the sequences of species-specific (or other taxa) random amplified p olymorphic DNA (RAPD) fragments. The methodology was applied to design probes for the halophilic archaeal species Haloferax mediterranei. Wi th this technique, DNA probes of known sequence can be generated easil y and without any previous knowledge about the properties of the micro organisms.