Genome profiling - Establishment and practical evaluation of its methodology

A method which enables us to identify and classify cells and organisms at the level of genotype was established and designated as genome profiling. It is composed of three basic steps: 1) preparation of genome DNAs by an alkaline-extraction based simple method, 2) random PCR which provides specific DNA fragments related to the genome DNAs, 3) temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE) which separates and characterizes DNA fragments. Genome profiling was theoretically shown to be sufficiently informative and have a function-like nature that definitely depends on templates and primers, which was experimentally supported. All experimental results obtained with 19 organisms and more gave characteristic and specific profiles. Important findings were that genome profilings obtained with two different species of organisms were quite different, while in some cases there were one or two similar bands, and that each primer used for random PCR gave a distinct profile to the same genome, offering a reason for its naming.