Restriction enzyme analysis of PCR amplified rDNA as a taxonomic tool in yeast identification

A method has been developed to simplify the identification of yeast strains . We used the restriction fragment patterns of PCR amplified 18S rRNA-codin g DNA with the neighbouring ITS1 region for differentiation and identificat ion of 169 yeast strains representing 128 species associated mainly with fo od, wine, beer, and soft drinks. The amplicons were digested with four diff erent four-base-cutting restriction enzymes. To construct a database of res triction fragment patterns, the gels have been scanned and analyzed using t he Molecular Analyst Fingerprint 2.0 software. The use of four enzymes prov ed to be sufficient for strain identification.