title: Monitoring the dissemination of the broad-host-range plasmid pB10 in sediment microcosms by quantitative PCR.
abstract: Studying the transfer of specific mobile genetic elements in complex environmental matrices remains difficult because suitable molecular tools are not yet available to back up classical culture-dependent approaches. In this report, we show that quantitative PCR could be used to monitor the dissemination of the broad-host-range plasmid pB10 in sediment microcosms. This approach lies in the differential measurement of the host and plasmid DNAs used to inoculate the microcosms, using a particular design of quantitative PCR primers/probes where we took advantage of the mosaic aspect of the bacterial genomes to achieve a highly specific quantitative PCR detection system.
authors.affiliation: Centre International de Recherche sur l'Eau et l'Environnement, Suez Environnement, Le Pecq, France.
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bonot
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Merlin
mesh_terms: D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D056186:Metagenomics / Q000379:methods*; D010957:Plasmids / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers