New approaches to typing and identification of bacteria using the 16S-23S rDNA spacer region.

Medical microbiology is extremely reliant on the culture of bacteria from clinical specimens and their subsequent identification by biochemical and phenotypic characteristics for the diagnosis of disease. Following determination of the structure of DNA by Watson & Crick (1953), studies in bacteriology have seen a major shift from functional to molecular techniques for identifying bacteria (Towner & Cockayne, 1993). This review will deal with the 16s-23s spacer region of the rRNA operon (Fig. 1) and its use in the identification of micro-organisms at the species and strain (typing) levels.