Taxonomic and Characterization Methods of Streptomyces: A Review

Abstract

The 16S ribosomal RNA gene is the gold standard for taxonomic identification and phylogenetic study of most of the bacteria. However, the resolution of 16S rRNA gene is found to be insufficient to distinguish closely related species within the genus Streptomyces due to large size of Streptomyces member. Thus, it is essential to find alternative phylogenetic gene markers with higher discriminatory power in addition to 16S rRNA gene for the phylogenetic analysis of Streptomyces species in order to effectively indicate the evolutionary relationships among Streptomyces members at intra-and interspecific level. This article aims to discuss the resolution power of ribosomal genes (16S rRNA and 23S rRNA gene), of protein-coding genes (gyrB and trpB gene) and between ribosomal and protein-coding genes in order to identify gene that could provide better resolution for phylogenetic studies of Streptomyces.