Unique organization of the 16S-23S intergenic spacer regions of strains of Acinetobacter baylyi provides a means for its identification from other Acinetobacter species

This paper extends an earlier report on rrn operon characteristics in members of the genus Acinetobacter. It describes a systematic approach towards developing and validating a protocol for elucidating how the intergenic spacer regions (ISR) in Acinetobacter baylyi strains are organized and allows the numbers of long and short ISRs to be determined. Experimental data confirmed the in silico predictions based on available A. baylyi rrn sequence data. All were shown to possess three long ISRs and 4 short ISRs, differing in most cases in length by about 90nt. However, the ISR arrangement in A. baylyi strain 93A2 was different. Although it also possessed 4 SISRs and three LISRs, their length difference was less (39nt) which was confirmed from its ISR sequence data. Primer sets for PCR identification of A. baylyi could then be determined. Applying the same approach to other species of Acinetobacter showed none shared the same ISR organization as A. baylyi. Its value in typing members of this genus is discussed.