Abstract Quantitative PCR (Q-PCR or real-time PCR) approaches are now widely applied in
microbial ecology to quantify the abundance and expression of taxonomic and functional …

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is often used for the amplification of a mixture of
homologous genes. PCR bias and artifact formation can occur in multitemplate PCR, and …

Microorganisms are major drivers of elemental cycling in the biosphere. Determining the
abundance of microbial functional traits involved in the transformation of nutrients, including …

For centuries, biologists have studied patterns of plant and animal diversity at continental
scales. Until recently, similar studies were impossible for microorganisms, arguably the most …

Most attempts to identify the processes that structure natural communities have focused on
conspicuous macroorganisms whereas the processes responsible for structuring microbial …

Increased use of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) raises concerns about their
environmental impacts, but the effects of metal oxide ENPs on environmental processes and …

Saturation mutagenesis probes define sections of the vast protein sequence space.
However, even if randomization is limited this way, the combinatorial numbers problem is …

The contribution of PCR artifacts to 16S rRNA gene sequence diversity from a complex
bacterioplankton sample was estimated. Taq DNA polymerase errors were found to be the …

Considering the importance of its potential implications for human health, agricultural
productivity, and ecosystem stability, surprisingly little is known regarding the composition or …

Stable isotope probing (SIP) of nucleic acids allows the detection and identification of active
members of natural microbial populations that are involved in the assimilation of an …