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PMID: 3994373 Published · ppublish English Journal Article

Preparation of a DNA gene probe for detection of mercury resistance genes in gram-negative bacterial communities.

Applied and environmental microbiology ·Vol. 49 ·No. 3 ·1985-03-00 ·Pages 686-92

Barkay T, Fouts DL, Olson BH

Abstract

A DNA gene probe was prepared to study genetic change mechanisms responsible for adaptation to mercury in natural bacterial communities. The probe was constructed from a 2.6-kilobase NcoI-EcoRI DNA restriction fragment which spans the majority of the mercury resistance operon (mer) in the R-factor R100. The range of specificity of this gene probe was defined by hybridization to the DNA of a wide variety of mercury-resistant bacteria previously shown to possess the mercuric reductase enzyme. All of the tested gram-negative bacteria had DNA sequences homologous to the mer probe, whereas no such homologies were detected in DNA of the gram-positive strains. Thus, the mer probe can be utilized to study gene flow processes in gram-negative bacterial communities.

MeSH Terms
Base Sequence DNA, Bacterial/analysis Gram-Negative Bacteria/drug effects,genetics Mercury/pharmacology Nucleic Acid Hybridization Oxidoreductases/analysis R Factors
Chemicals
DNA, Bacterial Oxidoreductases mercuric reductase Mercury
Authors & Affiliations
3 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Barkay T
Fouts D L
Olson B H
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49 references, click to expand
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Article Info
Journal
Applied and environmental microbiology
Abbr.
Appl Environ Microbiol
ISSN
0099-2240
DOI
10.1128/aem.49.3.686-692.1985
Published
1985-03-00
Pages
686-92
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
7605801
PMCID
PMC373572
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1128/aem.49.3.686-692.1985 PMC Full Text View journal details
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