Agreement between amoA gene-specific quantitative PCR and fluorescence in situ hybridization in the measurement of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in activated sludge.

ABSTRACT: Microbial abundance is central to most investigations in microbial ecology, and its accurate measurement is a challenging task that has been significantly facilitated by the advent of molecular techniques over the last 20 years. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is considered the gold standard of quantification techniques; however, it is expensive and offers low sample throughput, both of which limit its wider application. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) is an alternative that offers significantly higher throughput, and it is used extensively in molecular biology. The accuracy of qPCR can be compromised by biases in the DNA extraction and amplification steps. In this study, we compared the accuracy of these two established quantification techniques to measure the abundance of a key functio

SUBMITTER: Baptista JD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4178681 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature