Evaluation of a new method for identification of bacteria based on sequence homology of 16S rRNA gene.

A new identification method for bacteria based on partial sequences of divergent regions of the 16S rRNA gene was evaluated. The method involves PCR-based amplification of 16S rRNA gene fragments, followed by sequencing and comparison of sequences of about 300 nucleotides with those in the database of NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) via the Internet. Most of the bacteria tested could be identified at the species level even if some unread nucleotides were present in the sequence. Although this method still requires improvement, it has the potential to be a highly reliable and practical identification method for bacteria.