Characterization of bacterial community diversity in cystic fibrosis lung infections by use of 16s ribosomal DNA terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism profiling.

ABSTRACT: Progressive loss of lung function resulting from the inflammatory response to bacterial colonization is the leading cause of mortality in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. A greater understanding of these bacterial infections is needed to improve lung disease management. As culture-based diagnoses are associated with fundamental drawbacks, we used terminal restriction fragment (T-RF) length polymorphism profiling and 16S rRNA clone data to characterize, without prior cultivation, the bacterial community in 71 sputa from 34 adult CF patients. Nineteen species from 15 genera were identified in 53 16S rRNA clones from three patients. Of these, 15 species have not previously been reported in CF lung infections and many were species requiring strict anaerobic conditions for growth. The species ric

SUBMITTER: Rogers GB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC525137 | biostudies-literature | 2004 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature