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  • PCR technique for the microbial analysis of inanimate hospital environment
    Rozman, Urška, 1981- ; Šostar-Turk, Sonja
    Discipline of molecular ecology and molecular techniques such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) offers a possibility to study and reveal the microbial diversity in environmental settings with ... complicated mixed communities, non-culturable organisms, interfering contaminants and low levels of target DNA. Hospital environment represents a new ecological niche for clinically important nosocomial pathogens and antibiotic-resistant microorganisms, which have been commonly found on various hospital surfaces. Accurate characterization of microbial communities depends on several factors, starting with sample collection and conditional enrichment step. In the step of nucleic acid isolation and purification, the DNA, as a dominant signature molecule, is extracted followed by removing co-extracted impurities. PCR target sequences are often 16S rDNA gene, functional gene probes or species-specific probes, depending on the objective of the study. Furthermore, properly prepared PCR amplicons can serve as a basis for characterizing microbial community. The PCR technique is a powerful tool for the analysis of microbial diversity of environmental ecosystems. In a hospital environment, advantages of detecting pathogens and antibiotic-resistant bacteria need to be pointed out.
    Type of material - article, component part
    Publish date - 2016
    Language - english
    COBISS.SI-ID - 2308260