Exploiting bacterial genomes to develop biomarkers for identification

Abstract

Bacteria have unique abilities to adjust itself to diverse environmental conditions. Under adverse conditions, their genetic reservoir provides necessary help. Although bacteria have been perceived as pathogens to most living beings, the most critical are the ones which infect human being. Bacteria also harbour the human gut and skin and have been shown to be helpful. The pathogenic bacteria cause diseases and contribute to ill health. The need is to identify them rapidly, diagnose the disease and initiate the treatment. Most bacteria can be easily identified on the basis of their 16S rRNA (rrs) gene. However, in case where multiple copies of rrs are present within a bacterial genome, it is difficult to identify them, since they show great homology with other species of a genus. Here, novel approaches have been reviewed, which rely upon certain genes which are common to a large number of species of Clostridium, Lactobacillus, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Vibrio and Yersinia and show unique digestion patterns on treatment with restriction endonucleases.