RANDOM AMPLIFIED POLYMORPHIC DNA OF A GROUP OF HALOPHILIC ARCHAEAL ISOLATES

Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) can be used to characterize cl osely related bacterial strains. In the present study, we have applied RAPD to some strains of the halophilic archaeon Haloferax mediterrane i in an attempt to evaluate the newly developed method and to compare the results with those obtained from pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) studies. The RAPD analysis correlated very well with analyses o btained from PFGE. Our results indicate that RAPD is a useful techniqu e to type the total genome with a resolution similar to that of PFGE, but with the advantage of rapidity and simplicity.