Molecular Phylogenetic Explorations of Natural Microbial Community Composition and Diversity

摘要

Comparative sequence analysis of ribosomal RNA molecules has led to a phylogenetic-based approach to characterize natural microbial communities. The approach has been applied to study natural communities of sulfate-reducing bacteria. Hybridization probes were used to measure relative amounts of specific sulfate reducer rRNAs in an estuarine sediment. Selective amplification, cloning, and comparative sequence analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences have revealed new diversity among sulfate-reducing bacteria.