STUDIES ON TRANSFORMATION IN MORAXELLA AND ORGANISMS ASSUMED TO BE RELATED TO MORAXELLA

Differentiation of some species of Neisseriaceae and other bacterial groups by DNA-DNA hybridization

DNA-DNA hybridization using total genomic DNA probes may represent a way of differentiating between miscellaneous bacterial species. This was studied with type and reference strains of 20 species in Moraxella, Kingella, and other selected Gram-negative groups. Both radioactive and biotin labelling were employed. Most of the species examined were easily distinguished, such as Moraxella (Branhamella) catarrhalis, M.(B.) ovis, M. atlantae, M. phenylpyruvica, M. osloensis, Neisseria elongata, N. meningitidis, Kingella kingae, K. indologenes, K. dentrificans, Oligella urethralis, Eikenella corrodens, Cardiobacterium hominis, Haemophilus aphrophilus, Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Gardnerella vaginalis, and DF-2. This reflected the extent of the genetic distances between them as a basis for identification by hybridization. There was some clustering in the Moraxella group. Especially the closely related Moraxella nonliquefaciens, M. lacunata and M. bovis showed strong hybridization affinities. This leads to potential problems in distinguishing these three species from each other by DNA-DNA hybridization with total genomic probes alone.

Deoxyribonucleic acid base composition of the genus Lactobacillus

Deoxyribonucleic acids of 45 strains of Lactobacillus and 5 strains of Bifidobacterium which had been analyzed for base composition by chromatographic means were examined at equilibrium in a CsCl density gradient. Regression analysis showed that there have been systematic errors involved in the estimation of guanine plus cytosine (GC) content by the chemical method, and that the relation between buoyant density and base composition is indeed linear and best fitted by the equation GC = 10.309 (rho-1.662), which compares well in slope with the equation of Schildkraut, Marmur, and Doty. With the improved data obtained in this study, the specific groupings of the species of both genera were reevaluated.