title: Detection of small sequence differences using competitive PCR: molecular monitoring of genetically improved, mercury-reducing bacteria.
abstract: A quantitative PCR approach is presented to detect small genomic sequence differences for molecular quantification of recombinant DNA. The only unique genetic feature of the mercury-reducing, genetically improved Pseudomonas putida KT2442::mer73 available to distinguish it from its native mercury-resistant relatives is the DNA sequence crossing the border of the insertion site of the introduced DNA fragment. The quantification assay is a combination of specific PCR amplification and temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE). Gene quantification is provided by a competitively co-amplified DNA standard constructed by point mutation PCR. After computing the denaturation behavior of the target DNA stretch, a single base difference was introduced to achieve maximum migration difference in TGGE between the original target DNA and the modified standard without altering the PCR amplification efficiency. This competitive PCR strategy is a highly specific and sensitive way to detect small sequence differences and to monitor recombinant DNA in effluxes of biotechnological plants.
authors.affiliation: GBF (National Research Centre for Biotechnology) Division of Microbiology, Mascheroder Weg 1, D-38124 Braunschweig, Germany. afe@gbf.de
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Felske
authors.forename: B V
authors.initials: BV
authors.lastname: Pauling
authors.forename: H F
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: von Canstein
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lauber
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Buer
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Wagner-Döbler
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial / Q000235:genetics; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D008628:Mercury / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D016958:Pseudomonas putida / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D008628:Mercury