AEM
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Grüntzig, V.
Right arrow Articles by Tiedje, J. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Grüntzig, V.
Right arrow Articles by Tiedje, J. M.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Grüntzig, V.
Right arrow Articles by Tiedje, J. M.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2001, p. 760-768, Vol. 67, No. 2
0099-2240/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/AEM.67.2.760-768.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Pseudomonas stutzeri Nitrite Reductase Gene Abundance in Environmental Samples Measured by Real-Time PCR

Verónica Grüntzig,1 Stephen C. Nold,2,dagger Jizhong Zhou,2,3 and James M. Tiedje1,2,4,*

Department of Microbiology,1 Center for Microbial Ecology,2 and Department of Crop and Soil Sciences,4 Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, and Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 378313

Received 17 August 2000/Accepted 4 December 2000

We used real-time PCR to quantify the denitrifying nitrite reductase gene (nirS), a functional gene of biogeochemical significance. The assay was tested in vitro and applied to environmental samples. The primer-probe set selected was specific for nirS sequences that corresponded approximately to the Pseudomonas stutzeri species. The assay was linear from 1 to 106 gene copies (r2 = 0.999). Variability at low gene concentrations did not allow detection of twofold differences in gene copy number at less than 100 copies. DNA spiking and cell-addition experiments gave predicted results, suggesting that this assay provides an accurate measure of P. stutzeri nirS abundance in environmental samples. Although P. stutzeri abundance was high in lake sediment and groundwater samples, we detected low or no abundance of this species in marine sediment samples from Puget Sound (Wash.) and from the Washington ocean margin. These results suggest that P. stutzeri may not be a dominant marine denitrifier.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Center for Microbial Ecology, 540 Plant and Soil Science Building, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1325. Phone: (517) 353-9021. Fax: (517) 353-2917. E-mail: tiedjej{at}msu.edu.

dagger Present address: Department of Biology, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, WI 54751-0790.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2001, p. 760-768, Vol. 67, No. 2
0099-2240/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/AEM.67.2.760-768.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
J. Bacteriol. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. Eukaryot. Cell All ASM Journals

Copyright © 2001 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.