Sl. Liu et Ke. Sanderson, I-CEUI REVEALS CONSERVATION OF THE GENOME OF INDEPENDENT STRAINS OF SALMONELLA-TYPHIMURIUM, Journal of bacteriology, 177(11), 1995, pp. 3355-3357
The enzyme I-CeuI, encoded by a class I mobile intron inserted in the
gene for 23S rRNA in Chlamydomonas eugamatos, cleaves a specific 19-bp
sequence in this gene. This sequence is present only in the seven gen
es for rRNA in Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli. Partial di
gestion with I-CeuI of DNA from 17 wild-type strains of S. typhimurium
indicates that the chromosome of these strains is strongly conserved,
for the digestion products closely resemble those of strain LT2. The
lengths and order of chromosomal segments are conserved in 15 of the s
trains; 2 show some rearrangements. XbaI digestion indicated heterogen
eity without revealing the genomic structure. Because of conservation
of I-CeuI sites in genes for rRNA and conservation of the number and l
ocations of these genes, I-CeuI provides an excellent tool for the rap
id examination of the chromosomes of related species of bacteria; diff
erences in the fingerprints indicate the occurrence of chromosomal rea
rrangements such as insertions or inversions.