Use of Molecular Techniques to Assess Diversity Among the Bdellovibrios

蜈蚣弧菌是原核生物的捕食者，捕食敏感的革兰氏阴性杆菌。独特的捕食性和周质内生长阶段使蜈蚣弧菌的生活方式不同于其他细菌，并将这些生物归入一个独特的类别。尽管蛭弧菌在自然界中分布广泛，但人们对不同生态系统中生物的多样性知之甚少。捕食性细菌的不同分离株的特征不足以形成一个简单的分类方案和分类系统。在现有系统中，蜈蚣弧菌的嗜盐基团都被放在一个基团中。这种情况的存在是因为用于区分细菌物种和亚种的最先进的分子方法尚未被应用于这些生物的研究。该项目的目的是使用现有的分子指纹和核糖体RNA测序技术来区分威廉姆斯博士收集的40多个蛭弧菌分离物，这是已知范围最广的一个。本收集中的菌株来自世界广泛地理区域的各种环境来源，包括切萨皮克湾、加勒比海圣约翰岛沿海水域、波多黎各、百慕大、夏威夷、俄罗斯土壤、污水和河流中的几个菌株以及尼日利亚的水和土壤样本。这一项目的另一个主要目的与少数群体职业发展奖一致，目的是为首席调查员提供机会，使其有机会将分子技术应用于其专长领域--蜈蚣弧菌的生态学。

Bdellovibrios are procaryotic predators which prey on susceptible gram negative bacilli basteria. The unique predatory and intraperiplasmic growth phase makes the lifestyle of the bdellovibrios different from that of other bacteria and places these organisms in a distinctive class. Although the bdellovibrios are widely distributed in nature, little is known about the diversity of the organisms in various ecosystems. Characterization of different isolates of the predatory bacteria has been insufficient to allow for more than a rudimentary classification scheme and taxonomic system. The halophilic group of the bdellovibrios are all placed in one group in the existing system. This situation exists because state of-the art molecular methods used to differentiate among bacterial species and subspecies have not been applied to the study of these organisms. The aim of this project is to use the available molecular fingerprinting and ribosomal RNA sequencing techniques to differentiate among over 40 isolates of bdellovibrios in Dr. Williams' collection, which is the most extensive one known. Isolates in this collection were obtained from various environmental sources from wide geographical areas of the world including the Chesapeake Bay, coastal waters of St. Johns Island in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, Hawaii, several isolates from soil, sewage and rivers in Russia and water and soil samples from Nigeria. Another major aim of this project, which is consistent with those of the Minority Career Advancement Award, is to provide the Principal Investigator with the opportunity to develop expertise in the application of molecular techniques to his area of expertise, the ecology of the bdellovibrios.