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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2001, p. 2922-2926, Vol. 67, No. 7
0099-2240/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AEM.67.7.2922-2926.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Photosynthetic and Phylogenetic Primers for
Detection of Anoxygenic Phototrophs in Natural Environments
Laurie A.
Achenbach,*
Jennifer
Carey,
and
Michael
T.
Madigan
Department of Microbiology and Center for
Systematic Biology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois
Received 17 January 2001/Accepted 10 April 2001
Primer sets were designed to target specific 16S ribosomal DNA
(rDNA) sequences of photosynthetic bacteria, including the green sulfur
bacteria, the green nonsulfur bacteria, and the members of the
Heliobacteriaceae (a gram-positive phylum). Due to the phylogenetic diversity of purple sulfur and purple nonsulfur
phototrophs, the 16S rDNA gene was not an appropriate target for
phylogenetic rDNA primers. Thus, a primer set was designed that targets
the pufM gene, encoding the M subunit of the
photosynthetic reaction center, which is universally distributed among
purple phototrophic bacteria. The pufM primer set
amplified DNAs not only from purple sulfur and purple nonsulfur
phototrophs but also from Chloroflexus species, which
also produce a reaction center like that of the purple bacteria.
Although the purple bacterial reaction center structurally resembles
green plant photosystem II, the pufM primers did not
amplify cyanobacterial DNA, further indicating their specificity for
purple anoxyphototrophs. This combination of phylogenetic- and
photosynthesis-specific primers covers all groups of known anoxygenic
phototrophs and as such shows promise as a molecular tool for the rapid
assessment of natural samples in ecological studies of these organisms.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Microbiology, MailCode 6508, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901. Phone: (618) 453-7984. Fax: (618) 453-8036. E-mail: laurie{at}micro.siu.edu.

Present address: Biomedical Sciences, Vanderbilt University,
Nashville,
Tenn.
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2001, p. 2922-2926, Vol. 67, No. 7
0099-2240/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AEM.67.7.2922-2926.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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