Nucleotide sequence of the SrRNA gene and phylogenetic analysis of Trichomonas tenax

The small subunit ribosomal RNA (SrRNA) gene of Trichomonas tenax ATCC30207 was amplified by PCR and the 1.55-kb product was cloned into plasmid vector pUC18. Four clones were isolated and sequenced. The insert DNAs were 1,552 bp long and their G+C contents were 48.1%; three of them had exactly the same DNA sequences and one had only one nucleotide change. A representative SrRNA sequence was analyzed and a phylogenetic tree was estimated by the neighbor-joining (NJ) method. Among the protists examined, T. tenax was placed as the closest relative of Tritrichomonas foetus, as expected from the traditional taxonomy. The total homology between the two SrRNA sequences was 89.2%.