[Genomic fingerprints of organisms from different taxonomic groups: the use of phage M13 DNA as a hybridization probe].

Hypervariable polymorphic patterns were detected using wild-type M13 DNA as a probe in genomic DNAs of very different organisms ranging from procaryotes and lower eucaryotes to upper plants and animals, including human beings. Due to somatic stability of highly polymorphic patterns and their discrete inheritance, individual-specific restriction pattern analysis ("DNA fingerprinting") with this test probe was found to be useful in applied human genetics, in particular, for identifying paternity and maternity, and mapping of human genomes. The data obtained also demonstrate some possibilities of the DNA fingerprinting technology in genetics and selection of agricultural plants and animals, such as variety analysis, classification and registration of individual inbred lines and strains, as well as identification of bacterial strains.