A finer fingerprint for bacteria: single-copy genes tell lookalike species apart

When bacteria in the same family look almost identical, telling them apart matters — for tracking infections, protecting fisheries and understanding evolution. The standard genetic marker, 16S rDNA, blurs at exactly that fine scale. Alexandra García Flórez and colleagues at the University of the Basque Country (EHU) have shown that single-copy genes — genes each bacterium carries just once — can serve as sharper markers, distinguishing closely related Vibrio species where the old marker cannot. Their study, in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, gives microbiologists a finer fingerprint kit, built with computational comparisons across the family tree.

SDG 9 · Industry, innovation and infrastructure — Mechanism: tech innovation