Abstract

Genetic analysis was conducted on newly isolated coliphages form soil by using a RAPD assay. From the initial result, the coliphages were turned out to be different form one another but were closely related to φλ due to the fact that they shared the same RAPD maker in which other T phage testing failed to show. By using the primers EC01 or EC02, a fast genetic mutation of φC1 was found by producing specific RAPD markers on the phages from the first filial progeny to the second filial progeny. When we made a RAPD assay with combined primers (EC01, EC05 and EC08), the genetic mutation was again confirmed in φC1. The assay detection showed mutations in other coliphages such as φC2 and φC3 by revealing specific RAPD bands among different progeny phages, where genetic instability of the coliphages in implied.

• Keywords: Random amplified polymorphic DNA(RAPD); coliphages; genetic variation; quasispecies