L. H. Rebecca, Zothansanga, B. P. Singh, G. Gurusubramanian, N. Senthil Kumar
To assess the distribution and evolutionary conservation of distinct prokaryotic repetitive elements, consensus oligonucleotides were processed in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification with genomic DNA from different Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) strains from different parts of Mizoram, India. Oligonucleotides matching enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC) sequences were synthesized and tested as opposing PCR primers and produced clearly resolvable bands by gel electrophoresis, which provided unambiguous DNA fingerprints of the different Bt strains. After analysing with NTYSYS, DARwin and POWERMARKER, a dendogram was constructed, which revealed that the Bt strains were divided into three main clusters. Widespread distribution of the repetitive DNA elements enabled rapid identification of these Bt strains.