Abstract
DNA coding for the 16S rRNA of an intracellular bacterium was directly amplified from lysed cells of a host amoebae using the polymerase chain reaction and primers specific for eubacteria. The amoebae had been used to recover an uncultured bacterium observed in the sputum of a patient with pneumonia. The amplified DNA was sequenced directly and compared with published 16S rRNA sequences. The analysis revealed that the intracellular bacterium is a member of the genus Legionella and that it is different from species, including L. pneumophila, for which 16S ribosomal RNA sequence data are available.
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