This Article Full Text (PDF) Other Versions of this Article: JCM.00927-08v1 46/11/3555    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Google Scholar Articles by Wang, M. Articles by Feng, L. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Wang, M. Articles by Feng, L.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

J. Clin. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/JCM.00927-08
Copyright (c) 2008, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Analysis of the 16S-23S rDNA internal transcribed spacer region in Klebsiella

TEDA School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Nankai University, 23 HongDa Street, TEDA, Tianjin 300457, China; Key Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and Technology of the Ministry of Education, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China; Tianjin Key Laboratory of Microbial Functional Genomics, 23 HongDa Street, TEDA, Tianjin 300457, China; Tianjin Research Center for Functional Genomics and Biochips, 23 HongDa Street, TEDA, Tianjin 300457, China; Tianjin Biochip Corporation, 23 HongDa Street, TEDA, Tianjin 300457, China; Tianjin Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, 8 ZhaoFa Residential Quarter, the Second Street, TEDA, Tianjin 300457, China

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: fenglu63{at}nankai.edu.cn.

	Abstract

The 16S-23S rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of Klebsiella, including K. pneumoniae subsp. pneumoniae, K. pneumoniae subsp. ozaenae, K. pneumoniae subsp. rhinoscleromatis, K. oxytoca, K. planticola, K. terrigena and K. ornithinolytica were characterized, and the feasibility of using ITS sequences to discriminate Klebsiella species and subspecies was explored. A total of 336 ITS sequences from 21 representative strains and 11 clinical isolates of Klebsiella were sequenced and analyzed. Three distinct ITS types: ITS^none (without tRNA genes), ITS^glu (with tRNA^{Glu (UUC)} gene) and ITS^ile+ala (with tRNA^{Ile (GAU)} and tRNA^{Ala (UGC)} genes) were detected in all species except for K. rhinoscleromatis, which has only ITS^glu and ITS^ile+ala. The presence of ITS^none had never been reported in Enterobacteriaceae before. Both the length and the sequence of each ITS type are highly conserved within the species with identity levels from 0.961 to 1.000 for ITS^none, 0.967 to 1.000 for ITS^glu, and 0.968 to 1.000 for ITS^ile+ala. Interspecies sequence identities range from 0.775 to 0.989 for ITS^none, 0.798 to 0.997 for ITS^glu, and 0.712 to 0.985 for ITS^ile+ala. Regions with significant interspecies variations but low intraspecies polymorphisms were identified, and may be targeted to design probes for the identification of Klebsiella to the species level. Phylogenetic analysis based on ITS regions reveals the relationships among Klebsiella species similar to that based on 16S rRNA genes.