DESIGN AND APPLICATION OF 4 OLIGONUCLEOTIDE PROBES SPECIFIC FOR THERMUS SPECIES

Thermus species have proven to be of great interest scientifically and biotechnologically, but their identification has remained a challenge . Consequently, oligonucleotide probes for the identification bf four Thermus species were developed by comparing the sequences of the 16S r RNA variable region, V8, from numerous Thermus strains. These probes w ere specific for their target species both at the rRNA and rDNA levels . A rapid method of preparing rRNA dot blot filters from whole cell ly sis was also developed and employed to screen both type strains and en vironmental isolates. A number of isolates were positively identified using these probes as belonging to taxonomically known Thermus species , but numerous other isolates previously reported as Thermus aquaticus did not hybridize with the Thermus aquaticus probe and are regarded a s novel species.