Open AccessHigh-Throughput Analysis of Ammonia Oxidiser Community Composition via a Novel, amoA-Based Functional Gene Array
Author(s) -
Guy C. J. Abell,
Stan S. Robert,
Dion M. F. Frampton,
John K. Volkman,
Farhan Rizwi,
József Csontos,
Levente Bodrossy
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0051542
Subject(s) - ammonia monooxygenase , nitrification , microbial ecology , biology , ecology , microbial population biology , biochemical engineering , computational biology , gene , genetics , chemistry , archaea , bacteria , engineering , organic chemistry , nitrogen
Advances in microbial ecology research are more often than not limited by the capabilities of available methodologies. Aerobic autotrophic nitrification is one of the most important and well studied microbiological processes in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. We have developed and validated a microbial diagnostic microarray based on the ammonia-monooxygenase subunit A ( amoA ) gene, enabling the in-depth analysis of the community structure of bacterial and archaeal ammonia oxidisers. The amoA microarray has been successfully applied to analyse nitrifier diversity in marine, estuarine, soil and wastewater treatment plant environments. The microarray has moderate costs for labour and consumables and enables the analysis of hundreds of environmental DNA or RNA samples per week per person. The array has been thoroughly validated with a range of individual and complex targets ( amoA clones and environmental samples, respectively), combined with parallel analysis using traditional sequencing methods. The moderate cost and high throughput of the microarray makes it possible to adequately address broader questions of the ecology of microbial ammonia oxidation requiring high sample numbers and high resolution of the community composition.