Abstract
DNA of 96 strains of the genera Nitrosomonas, Nitrosococcus, Nitrosospira, Nitrosolobus, and Nitrosovibrio was isolated and analysed spectrophotometrically. Percentages of guanine plus cytosine (G+C) content, genome sizes, and DNA-DNA homologies were determined. The results indicated the presence of eight Nitrosomonas species, three or four Nitrosococcus species, five Nitrosospira species, and two species of both Nitrosolobus and Nitrosovibrio. DNA homologies between strains of a separate species ranged from 56–100%. Average homologies between strains of different species were 33% in Nitrosococcus, 36% in Nitrosomonas, 37% in Nitrosolobus, 40% in Nitrosospira, and 42% in Nitrosovibrio. Average homologies between species of different genera were 33% and thus not significantly above the background value of 30% detected between DNA of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and Escherichia coli. Genome sizes ranged from 1.90–2.74×109 dalton in Nitrosomonas, 2.09–2.37×109 dalton in Nitrosococcus, 1.87–2.15×109 dalton in Nitrosospira, 1.92–2.10×109 dalton in Nitrosolobus, and 1.91–2.15×109 dalton in Nitrosovibrio. Differences in genome sizes were in accordance with DNA homologies.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
DeLey J (1970) Reexamination of the association between melting point, buoyant density, and chemical base composition of deoxyribonucleic acid. J Bacteriol 101:733–754
DeLey J, Cattoir H, Reynaerts A (1970) The quantitative measurements of DNA hybridization from renaturation rates. Eur J Biochem 12:133–142
Dodson MS, Mangan J, Watson SW (1983) Comparison of deoxyribonucleic acid homologies of six strains of ammoniaoxidizing bacteria. Int J Syst Bacteriol 33:521–524
Gillis M, DeLey J, DeCleene M (1970) The determination of molecular weight of bacterial genome DNA from renaturation rates. Eur J Biochem 12:143–153
Huss VAR, Festl H, Schleifer KH (1983) Studies on the spectrophotometric determination of DNA hybridization from renaturation rates. Syst Appl Microbiol 4:184–192
Krümmel A, Harms H (1982) Effect of organic matter on growth and cell yield of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria. Arch Microbiol 133:50–54
Marmur J (1961) A procedure for the isolation of deoxyribonucleic acid from microorganisms. J Mol Biol 3:208–218
Schleifer KH, Stackebrandt E (1983) Molecular systematics of procaryotes. Ann Rev Microbiol 37:143–187
Watson SW (1974) Nitrobacteraceae. In: Buchanan RE, Gibbons NE (eds) Bergey's manual of determinative bacteriology. 8th edn. Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, pp 450–456
Watson SW, Mandel M (1971) Comparison of the morphology and deoxyribonucleic acid composition of 27 strains of nitrifying bacteria. J Bacteriol 107:563–569
Watson SW, Valois FW, Waterbury JB (1981) The family Nitrobacteraceae. In: Starr MP, Stolp H, Trüper HG, Balows A, Schlegel HG (eds) The prokaryotes. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 1005–1022
Winogradsky S (1892) Contribution à la morphologie des organismes de la nitrification. Arch Sci Biol 1:86–137
Woese CR, Weisburg WG, Paster BJ, Hahn CM, Tanner RS, Krieg NR, Koops HP, Harms H, Stackebrandt, E (1984) The phylogeny of purple bacteria: The beta subdivision. Syst Appl Microbiol 5:327–336
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Koops, HP., Harms, H. Deoxyribonucleic acid homologies among 96 strains of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria. Arch. Microbiol. 141, 214–218 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00408061
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00408061