Molecular differentiation of Bifidobacterium species with amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis and alignment of short regions of the ldh gene

The differentiation of Bifidobacterium species was performed with specific primers using the PCR technique, the amplified ribosomal DNA restriction an alysis (ARDRA) technique based on reports on the sequence of the 16S rRNA g ene and speciation based on a short region of the ldh gene. Four specific p rimer sets were developed for each of the Bifidobacterium species. B. anima lis, B. infantis and B. longum. The use of the ARDRA method made it possibl e to discriminate between B. infantis, B. longum and B. animalis with the c ombination of BamHI TaqI and Sau3AI restriction enzymes. The ldh gene seque nces of 309-312 bp were determined for 19 Bifidobacterium strains. Alignmen t of these short legions of the ldh gene confirmed that it is possible to d istinguish between B. longum and B. infantis but not between B. lactis and B. animalis. (C) 2000 Published bq Elsevier Science B.V. on behalf of the F ederation of European Microbiological Societies.