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Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 08 1995, 3069-3075, Vol 61, No. 8
PS Langendijk, F Schut, GJ Jansen, GC Raangs, GR Kamphuis, MH Wilkinson and GW Welling
Three 16S rRNA hybridization probes were developed and tested for genus-
specific detection of Bifidobacterium species in the human fecal flora.
Variable regions V2, V4, and V8 of the 16S rRNA contained sequences unique
to this genus and proved applicable as target sites for
oligodeoxynucleotide probes. Determination of the genus specificity of the
oligonucleotides was performed by whole-cell hybridization with fluorescein
isothiocyanate-labelled probes. To this end, cells were fixed on glass
slides, hybridized with the probes, and monitored by videomicroscopy. In
combination with image analysis, this allowed quantification of the
fluorescence per cell and objective evaluation of hybridization
experiments. One of the probes developed was used to determine the
population of Bifidobacterium spp. in human fecal samples. A comparison was
made with results obtained by cultural methods for enumeration. Since both
methods gave similar population estimates, it was concluded that all
bifidobacteria in feces were culturable. However, since the total
culturable counts were only a fraction of the total microscopic counts, the
contribution of bifidobacteria to the total intestinal microflora was
overestimated by almost 10-fold when cultural methods were used as the sole
method for enumeration.
Copyright © 1995, American Society for Microbiology
Quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization of Bifidobacterium spp. with genus-specific 16S rRNA-targeted probes and its application in fecal samples
Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
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