To explore whether the crenarchaeal consortium found in the rhizosphere is distinct from the assemblage of crenarchaeotes inhabiting bulk soil, PCR-single-stranded-conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) profiles were generated for 76 plant samples collected from native environments. Divergent terrestrial plant groups including bryophytes (mosses), lycopods (club mosses), pteridophytes (ferns), gy...

The reference standard methods for drug susceptibility testing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, such as culture on Lowenstein-Jensen or Middlebrook 7H10/11 medium, are very slow to give results; and due to the emergence of multidrug-resistant M. tuberculosis and extensively drug-resistant M. tuberculosis, there is an urgent demand for new, rapid, and accurate drug susceptibility testing methods. ...

Single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis using ethidium bromide can be improved by adding formamide as the denaturant. This gives higher resolution than previous SSCP methods; it had 100% sensitivity in the discrimination of 14 PCR samples from two different genes, even for a long fragment close to the upper limit of 250 base pairs. This modified procedure is a rapid, simple, saf...

Calpastatin (CAST) is a specific inhibiter of calpains, playing a role in meat tenderization and myogenesis. In the present study, the polymorphism of the CAST gene of Makoei sheep was investigated by polymerase chain reaction and single strand conformation polymorphism technique (PCR–SSCP). Genomic DNA was extracted from whole blood samples collected from 100 sheep. A 622 bp CAST exon 1 segmen...

We investigated mutations in the genes katG, inhA (regulatory and structural regions), and kasA and the oxyR-ahpC intergenic region of 97 isoniazid (INH)-resistant and 60 INH-susceptible Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates obtained in two states in Brazil: São Paulo and Paraná. PCR-single-strand conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) was evaluated for screening mutations in regions of prevalenc...

The use of molecular tools for early and rapid detection of gram-negative histamine-producing bacteria is important for preventing the accumulation of histamine in fish products. To date, no molecular detection or identification system for gram-negative histamine-producing bacteria has been developed. A molecular method that allows the rapid detection of gram-negative histamine producers by PCR...

The application of PCR technology to molecular diagnostics holds great promise for the early identification of medically important pathogens. PCR has been shown to be useful for the detection of the presence of fungal DNA in both laboratory and clinical samples. Considerable interest has been focused on the utility of selecting universal primers, those that recognize constant regions among most...

Single-stranded conformational polymorphism (SSCP) analysis is useful for mutation detection and polymorphism identification. To realize high-throughput SSCP analysis using a high-intensity electric field, the gel temperature must be well-controlled. We have developed an electrophoretic system having a pair of glass plates with an efficient temperature-controlling apparatus on each side of the ...