Use of RAPD-PCR fingerprinting to detect genetic diversity of soil Streptomyces isolates

Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) was used for identification and ass essment of genetic diversity between isolates of Streptomyces from soil. Ge nomic DNA from 18 Streptomyces isolates and 2 reference strains were amplif ied using four different 10-mer primers. Different DNA fingerprinting patte rns were obtained for all the isolates. Electrophoretic and cluster analysi s of the amplification products revealed incidence of polymorphism among th e isolates and none of them was identical to the reference strains although there were some common amplification bands. Two highly divergent groups we re determined among the isolates. The results indicate that RAPD is an effi cient method for discriminating and studying genetic diversity of Streptomy ces isolates.