The rpoB gene as a tool for clinical microbiologists

The rpoB gene, encoding the β-subunit of RNA polymerase, has emerged as a core gene candidate for phylogenetic analyses and identification of bacteria, especially when studying closely related isolates. Together with the 16S rRNA gene, rpoB has helped to delineate new bacterial species and refine ba...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Trends in microbiology (Regular ed.) 2009, Vol.17 (1), p.37-45
Main Authors: Adékambi, Toïdi, Drancourt, Michel, Raoult, Didier
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Bacteria - classification
Bacteria - enzymology
Bacteria - genetics
Bacterial Infections - diagnosis
Bacterial Infections - microbiology
Bacterial Proteins - genetics
Bacterial Proteins - metabolism
Bacterial Typing Techniques - methods
DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases - genetics
DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases - metabolism
Humans
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Species Specificity
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Summary:The rpoB gene, encoding the β-subunit of RNA polymerase, has emerged as a core gene candidate for phylogenetic analyses and identification of bacteria, especially when studying closely related isolates. Together with the 16S rRNA gene, rpoB has helped to delineate new bacterial species and refine bacterial community analysis, as well as enabling the monitoring of rifampicin resistance-conferring mutations. Sequencing of rpoB enables efficient estimation of bacterial G+C% content, DNA–DNA hybridization value and average nucleotide identity (percentage of the total genomic sequence shared between two strains) when taxonomic relationships have been firmly established. New identification tools targeting a rpoB gene fragment located between positions 2300 and 3300 have been developed recently. Therefore, inclusion of the rpoB gene sequence would be useful when describing new bacterial species.
ISSN:0966-842X
1878-4380
DOI:10.1016/j.tim.2008.09.008