scholarly journals Detection and Enumeration of Methanotrophs in Acidic Sphagnum Peat by 16S rRNA Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization, Including the Use of Newly Developed Oligonucleotide Probes for Methylocella palustris

2001 ◽  
Vol 67 (10) ◽  
pp. 4850-4857 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svetlana N. Dedysh ◽  
Manigee Derakshani ◽  
Werner Liesack

ABSTRACT Two 16S rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes, Mcell-1026 and Mcell-181, were developed for specific detection of the acidophilic methanotroph Methylocella palustris using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). The fluorescence signal of probe Mcell-181 was enhanced by its combined application with the oligonucleotide helper probe H158. Mcell-1026 and Mcell-181, as well as 16S rRNA oligonucleotide probes with reported group specificity for either type I methanotrophs (probes M-84 and M-705) or theMethylosinus/Methylocystis group of type II methanotrophs (probes MA-221 and M-450), were used in FISH to determine the abundance of distinct methanotroph groups in aSphagnum peat sample of pH 4.2. M. palustris was enumerated at greater than 106 cells per g of peat (wet weight), while the detectable population size of type I methanotrophs was three orders of magnitude below the population level of M. palustris. The cell counts with probe MA-221 suggested that only 104 type II methanotrophs per g of peat (wet weight) were present, while the use of probe M-450 revealed more than 106 type II methanotroph cells per g of the same samples. This discrepancy was due to the fact that probe M-450 targets almost all currently known strains of Methylosinus andMethylocystis, whereas probe MA-221, originally described as group specific, does not detect a large proportion ofMethylocystis strains. The total number of methanotrophic bacteria detected by FISH was 3.0 (±0.2) × 106 cells per g (wet weight) of peat. This was about 0.8% of the total bacterial cell number. Thus, our study clearly suggests that M. palustris and a defined population ofMethylocystis spp. were the predominant methanotrophs detectable by FISH in an acidic Sphagnum peat bog.

2006 ◽  
Vol 72 (6) ◽  
pp. 4293-4301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina G. Kalyuzhnaya ◽  
Rebecca Zabinsky ◽  
Sarah Bowerman ◽  
David R. Baker ◽  
Mary E. Lidstrom ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT A fluorescence in situ hybridization-flow cytometry (FISH/FC)-based method was optimized using artificial mixtures of pure cultures of methanotrophic bacteria. Traditional oligonucleotide probes targeting 16S rRNAs of type I (MG84/705 probe) and type II (MA450 probe) methanotrophs were labeled with fluorescein or Alexa fluor and used for FISH, followed by fluorescence-activated FC analysis and cell sorting (FACS). The method resulted in efficient separation of target cells (type I or type II methanotrophs) from the artificial mixtures. The method was then applied for detection and enrichment of type I and type II methanotroph populations from a natural sample, Lake Washington sediment. Cells were extracted from the sediment, fixed, and subjected to FISH/FC/FACS. The resulting subpopulations were analyzed by reverse transcriptase PCR surveys of 16S rRNA, pmoA (encoding a subunit of particulate methane monooxygenase), and fae (encoding formaldehyde-activating enzyme) genes. The functional gene analysis indicated specific separation of the type I and type II methanotroph populations. 16S rRNA gene analysis revealed that type I methanotrophs comprised 59% of the subpopulation separated using the type I-specific probe and that type II methanotrophs comprised 47.5% of the subpopulation separated using the type II-specific probe. Our data indicate that the FISH/FC/FACS protocol described can provide significant enrichment of microbial populations of interest from complex natural communities and that these can be used for genetic tests. We further tested the possibility of direct whole-genome amplification (WGA) from limited numbers of sorted cells, using artificial mixtures of microbes whose genome sequences are known. We demonstrated that efficient WGA can be achieved using 104 or more cells separated by 16S rRNA-specific FISH/FC/FACS, while fewer cells resulted in less specific WGA.


2008 ◽  
Vol 74 (16) ◽  
pp. 5068-5077 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatsuhiko Hoshino ◽  
L. Safak Yilmaz ◽  
Daniel R. Noguera ◽  
Holger Daims ◽  
Michael Wagner

ABSTRACT Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes is a method that is widely used to detect and quantify microorganisms in environmental samples and medical specimens by fluorescence microscopy. Difficulties with FISH arise if the rRNA content of the probe target organisms is low, causing dim fluorescence signals that are not detectable against the background fluorescence. This limitation is ameliorated by technical modifications such as catalyzed reporter deposition (CARD)-FISH, but the minimal numbers of rRNA copies needed to obtain a visible signal of a microbial cell after FISH or CARD-FISH have not been determined previously. In this study, a novel competitive FISH approach was developed and used to determine, based on a thermodynamic model of probe competition, the numbers of 16S rRNA copies per cell required to detect bacteria by FISH and CARD-FISH with oligonucleotide probes in mixed pure cultures and in activated sludge. The detection limits of conventional FISH with Cy3-labeled probe EUB338-I were found to be 370 ± 45 16S rRNA molecules per cell for Escherichia coli hybridized on glass microscope slides and 1,400 ± 170 16S rRNA copies per E. coli cell in activated sludge. For CARD-FISH the values ranged from 8.9 ± 1.5 to 14 ± 2 and from 36 ± 6 to 54 ± 7 16S rRNA molecules per cell, respectively, indicating that the sensitivity of CARD-FISH was 26- to 41-fold higher than that of conventional FISH. These results suggest that optimized FISH protocols using oligonucleotide probes could be suitable for more recent applications of FISH (for example, to detect mRNA in situ in microbial cells).


1996 ◽  
Vol 42 (10) ◽  
pp. 1061-1071 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc E. Frischer ◽  
Peter J. Floriani ◽  
Sandra A. Nierzwicki-Bauer

The use of 16S rRNA targeted gene probes for the direct analysis of microbial communities has revolutionized the field of microbial ecology, yet a comprehensive approach for the design of such probes does not exist. The development of 16S rRNA targeted oligonucleotide probes for use with fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) procedures has been especially difficult as a result of the complex nature of the rRNA target molecule. In this study a systematic comparison of 16S rRNA targeted oligonucleotide gene probes was conducted to determine if target location influences the hybridization efficiency of oligonucleotide probes when used with in situ hybridization protocols for the detection of whole microbial cells. Five unique universal 12-mer oligonucleotide sequences, located at different regions of the 16S rRNA molecule, were identified by a computer-aided sequence analysis of over 1000 partial and complete 16S rRNA sequences. The complements of these oligomeric sequences were chemically synthesized for use as probes and end labeled with either [γ-32P] ATP or the fluorescent molecule tetramethylrhodamine-5/-6. Hybridization sensitivity for each of the probes was determined by hybridization to heat-denatured RNA immobilized on blots or to formaldehyde fixed whole cells. All of the probes hybridized with equal efficiency to denatured RNA. However, the probes exhibited a wide range of sensitivity (from none to very strong) when hybridized with whole cells using a previously developed FISH procedure. Differential hybridization efficiencies against whole cells could not be attributed to cell wall type, since the relative probe efficiency was preserved when either Gram-negative or -positive cells were used. These studies represent one of the first attempts to systematically define criteria for 16S rRNA targeted probe design for use against whole cells and establish target site location as a critical parameter in probe design.Key words: 16S rRNA, oligonucleotide probes, in situ hybridization.


Development ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 103 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.J. Devlin ◽  
P.M. Brickell ◽  
E.R. Taylor ◽  
A. Hornbruch ◽  
R.K. Craig ◽  
...  

During limb development, type I collagen disappears from the region where cartilage develops and synthesis of type II collagen, which is characteristic of cartilage, begins. In situ hybridization using antisense RNA probes was used to investigate the spatial localization of type I and type II collagen mRNAs. The distribution of the mRNA for type II collagen corresponded well with the pattern of type II collagen synthesis, suggesting control at the level of transcription and mRNA accumulation. In contrast, the pattern of mRNA for type I collagen remained more or less uniform and did not correspond with the synthesis of the protein, suggesting control primarily at the level of translation or of RNA processing.


Molecules ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 1126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tianheng Ren ◽  
Maojie He ◽  
Zixin Sun ◽  
Feiquan Tan ◽  
Peigao Luo ◽  
...  

Non-denaturing fluorescence in situ hybridization (ND-FISH) has been used to distinguish wheat chromosomes and to detect alien chromosomes in the wheat genome. In this study, five different oligonucleotide probes were used with ND-FISH to examine 21 wheat cultivars and lines. These oligonucleotide probes distinguished 42 wheat chromosomes and also detected rye chromatin in the wheat genome. Moreover, the signal patterns of the oligonucleotide probes Oligo-pTa535-1 and Oligo-pSc119.2-1 showed high polymorphism in the wheat chromosomes. A total of 17.6% of the A group chromosomes, 25.9% of the B group chromosomes and 8.9% of the D group chromosomes showed obvious mutations when they were compared to the standard ND-FISH signal patterns, and most of them were Oligo-pSc119.2-1 mutants. The results suggested that these polymorphisms could be induced by the crossing of wheat cultivars. The results provided more information for the further application of oligonucleotide probes and ND-FISH.


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