The genetic identification of microorganisms utilizes molecular technologies to evaluate specific regions of the genome and uniquely determine to which genus, species, or strain a microorganism belongs. This work grew out of the similar, highly successful applications in human identification using the same basic techniques. Thus, the genetic identification of microorganisms has also been referred to a microbial fingerprinting.

Genetic identification of microorganisms is basically a comparison study. To identify an unknown organism, appropriate sequences from the unknown are compared to documented sequences from known organisms. Homology between the sequences results in a positive test. An exact match will occur when the two organisms are the same. Related individuals have genetic material that is identical for some regions and dissimilar for others. Unrelated individuals will have significant differences in the sequences being evaluated. Developing a database of key sequences that are unique...