Application of gyrB in the identification of closely related bacteria—— A review

Abstract:

The single-copied gyrB gene, encoding the subunit B of gyrase and distributing universally in all bacteria, has the average substitution rate of 0.7%~0.8% per million years. It’s proved that this region could be used to discriminate and identify the closely related species of different bacteria such as Pseudomonoas, Bacillus, Vibrio, Enterobacteriaceae, Mycobacteria, Aeromonas, Lactic acid bacteria et.al. It also can be used of quantitative or restriction fragment analysis of bacteria with the aid of species-specific primers or combined with DGGE(denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis). It really brings new promise for the identifying closest isolates or fingerprinting population due to overcoming the shortage of undistinguishing them acutely with the non-protein-encoding genes such as 16S rDNA or ITS(internal transcribed spacer) DNA. It’s an important new molecular marker for researches of closely related species and becoming an attractive topic in current microbial research world.

Key words:gyrase; gyrB; closely related species; phylogenetics