Characterization of culture-derived spiral bacteria by 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequence analysis

Broad range amplification and sequence analysis of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene was used to identify three spiral-form organisms. The agents were identified as Campylobacter fetus, “ Flexispira rappini”, and Borrelia burgdorferi, respectively, using either proprietary or public sequence databases. In each case, the rDNA sequence showed 99–100% homology with known sequence data. Sequence-based analysis for each isolate required only 2–3 days, whereas traditional means of identification took 8–12 days to complete. The identification of spirochetes and vibrio-like agents from human clinical samples is often time consuming and results may be difficult to interpret, sometimes due to atypical phenotypic characteristics. Analysis of 16S rDNA or other molecular targets may provide a way to accurately and rapidly characterize isolates that are recalcitrant to speciation.