[The study on genome size of leptospires]

Determination of genome size is very important in genetic studies and the molecular cloning of leptospires. With pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), which can be used in the analysis of large DNA molecules, we studied the genome size of leptospires and analysed it with rare cutter restrict endonuclease Not I. The PFGE system used was CHEF-DR II which produced parallel bands in agarose gel. The results showed that the genome size of leptospires was 2000kb and there was no dramatic difference between the 5 strains of 2 genus leptospira. Rare cutter Not I digestion of genome DNA of leptospira resulted in 11 bands and its bands pattern was quite different from that of E. coli, S. choleraesuis, S. typhimurium, and S. dysenteriae genome DNA. It is thought that more information can be obtained about leptospiral DNA with PFGE technique.