Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 27, 2026

Using Mycobacterium smegmatis as a Bioindicator for Zinc-Limited Growth Conditions in Mycobacteria
Published on: September 20, 2024
Differentiation and phylogenetic relationships in Mycobacterium spp with special reference to the RNase P RNA gene
Björn Herrmann1, Pelle Stolt, Guma Abdeldaim
1Section of Clinical Bacteriology, Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, 751 85, Uppsala, Sweden, bjorn.herrmann@medsci.uu.se.
Abstract:
The rnpB gene encodes for the RNA subunit of the catalytic ribonuclease RNase P and is present in all bacteria and has both conserved and highly variable sequence regions. Determination of rnpB in 35 Mycobacterium spp. showed species specific sequences for all species except the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (four species). High sequence variation was seen in the P3, P15 and P19 regions of suggested secondary structures of the corresponding RNase P RNA molecules. Phylogenetic analysis showed that rnpB gave similar tree topologies as 16S rRNA and hsp65 genes. A combined analysis of the three genes increased the number of nodes with significant support from 10 to 19. The results indicate that rnpB is useful for phylogenetic studies and is a possible target for identification and detection of Mycobacterium spp.
Related Concept Videos
Phylogenetic Species Concept in Microbiology
Modern Molecular Taxonomy
Microbial Phylogeny
Bacterial RNA Polymerase
In most genes, the transcription site is a single base present upstream of the coding sequence. Though RNAP is a catalytically efficient enzyme, it does not recognize...
Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons
Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?
In contrast, regions which code...

