Genomic species typing of acinetobacters by polymerase chain reaction amplification of the recA gene

Abstract The recA gene has been used as a target in screening for the presence of acinetobacters on the genospecies level and differentiation of relevant acinetobacter species from one another by PCR. Primers deduced from known recA gene sequences of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus and Neisseria gonorrhoeae allowed the amplification of DNAs from all Acinetobacter genospecies. The size of the amplified DNA fragment from all genospecies tested was approximately 435–500 bp relative to DNA size markers. The amplified products were examined further by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. Restriction analysis with only two enzymes, Mbo I and Hin fI, enabled us to identify all known genospecies. Since this method uses conserved recA gene sequences for primers, it is expected to be applicable for the identification of most bacterial species.