Gene probes for the selective detection of microorganisms that reductively dechlorinate polychlorinated biphenyl compounds

摘要

The present invention relates to an assay for identification of PCB dechlorinating organisms that are capable of biologically removing PCBs from contaminated materials. Specifically, the invention provides a set of primers for detecting PCB dechlorinating organisms in a sample. These individual primers of the primer set have a sequence of at least 12 nucleotides that is unique to 16S rDNA of PCB dechlorinating organisms.