Phenotypic and molecular analysis of dominant occurring antibiotic active-producing soil flora in Northern Jordan.

This investigation aimed to determine the relatedness of dominant occurring soil spp. in Northern Jordan based on their RAPD-PCR fingerprints, and to compare RAPD technique with the conventional phenotypic characterization of isolates. Fifty-eight white and gray color-bearing aerial mycelia antibiotic active-producing soil isolates along with three reference strains were genetically analyzed by RAPD-PCR. Polymorphisms between the isolates showed 1 to 10 bands per isolate and ranged from 200 to 3200 bp in size. Results revealed one common band of ~600 bp shared by ~85% of the isolates, and the observation of bands specific to some reference strains and some soil isolates. When RAPD patterns were analyzed with the UPGMA, results revealed clustering the tested isolates into two equal main super clusters (50% each). Super cluster I appeared to be homogenous and include the three reference strains. However, super cluster II was heterogeneous and but not including any of the reference strains. The association of the antibiotic activity of the dominant white and gray aerial mycelium-bearing isolates to RAPD clustering is reported for the first time, and the RAPD-PCR fingerprints generated here deserve to be cloned, characterized and sequenced in future as species-specific DNA markers. The more random primers used in the analysis may add to RAPD technique a cost-effective, fast, precise result, and less labor work solution for analyzing the similarities and differences among the isolates.