Exploring internal features of 16S rRNA gene for identification of clinically relevant species of the genus <it>Streptococcus</it>

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Streptococcus </it>is an economically important genus as a number of species belonging to this genus are human and animal pathogens. The genus has been divided into different groups based on 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity. The variability observed among the members of these groups is low and it is difficult to distinguish them. The present study was taken up to explore 16S rRNA gene sequence to develop methods that can be used for preliminary identification and can supplement the existing methods for identification of clinically-relevant isolates of the genus <it>Streptococcus</it>.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>16S rRNA gene sequences belonging to the isolates of <it>S. dysgalactiae, S. equi</it>, <it>S. pyogenes</it>, <it>S. agalactiae</it>, <it>S. bovis</it>, <it>S. gallolyticus</it>, <it>S. mutans</it>, <it>S. sobrinus, S. mitis</it>, <it>S. pneumoniae</it>, <it>S. thermophilus </it>and <it>S. anginosus </it>were analyzed with the purpose to define genetic variability within each species to generate a phylogenetic framework, to identify species-specific signatures and <it>in-silico </it>restriction enzyme analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The framework based analysis was used to segregate <it>Streptococcus </it>spp. previously identified upto genus level. This segregation was validated using species-specific signatures and <it>in-silico </it>restriction enzyme analysis. 43 uncharacterized <it>Streptococcus </it>spp. could be identified using this approach.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The markers generated exploring 16S rRNA gene sequences provided useful tool that can be further used for identification of different species of the genus <it>Streptococcus</it>.</p>