The diversity of the predominant bacteria in the human gastrointestinal tract was studied by using 16S rRNA-based approaches. PCR amplicons of the V6 to V8 regions of fecal 16S rRNA and ribosomal DNA (rDNA) were analyzed by temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE). TGGE of fecal 16S rDNA amplicons from 16 individuals showed different profiles, with some bands in common. Fecal samples fro...

Temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE) and related methods can separate DNA fragments that differ by a single base pair or defect. This article describes the basic features of TGGE, and reviews the theoretical model of DNA unwinding and its ability to predict DNA mobility in a temperature gradient gel. Recent applications of TGGE and related methods that were directed at detecting poin...

18S rDNA from 74 wine yeast strains was amplified by PCR using specific primers, and the products analyzed by temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE). TGGE is a useful method in screening the genotypes of the wine yeasts. Intraspecific differentiation was achieved on the basis of TGGE in some cases, whereas in others identical bands for strains classified as separate species were obtain...

Strains belonging to the Gram-positive coryneform soil bacteria were screened genotypically by temperature-gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE). This method allows the sequence-specific separation of amplified fragments of 16S rRNA genes. A total of 115 reference strains representing the majority of the species of the genera Aeromicrobium, Agromyces, Arthrobacter, Aureobacterium, Cellulomonas, C...

The utility of temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE) as a means of analysing the gut contents of predators was evaluated. Generalist predators consume multiple prey species and a species-specific primer approach may not always be a practical means of analysing predator responses to prey diversity in complex and biodiverse ecosystems. General invertebrate primers were used to amplify t...

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) forms complex quasispecies populations which consist of a large number of closely related genetic variants. This genetic heterogeneity may cause antigenic variation or drug resistance. We used heteroduplex analysis by temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE) to characterize genetic variants of HCV. The high resolution of TGGE was proven by comparison of DNA sequen...

The structures of rearranged gamma-chain T-cell antigen receptor (TCR) genes were analyzed in 5 cases of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), in 15 cases of peripheral T-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (T-NHL), in 1 case with large granular CD8 lymphocytosis, 1 case with CD8 lymphocytosis after autologous bone marrow transplantation for Hodgkin's disease, and in 2 cases with nonneoplastic d...

In studying the complex RNA processing pathways of premRNAs with multiple introns it is often necessary to resolve RNA splicing intermediates and different topological forms of RNA. Conventional one dimension northern hybridization analysis does not offer enough resolution to discriminate intron lariats from larger unspliced pre-mRNAs. Historically, two gels with different concentrations of acr...

Little information is available regarding the intestinal bacteria of chimpanzees in the wild, due to the technical difficulties of studying intestinal bacteria in the field. In this study, molecular-based bacterial analyses were performed to overcome this difficulty because polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods, such as temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE) and amplified ribos...

Sequence heterogeneities in 16S rRNA genes from individual strains of Paenibacillus polymyxa were detected by sequence-dependent separation of PCR products by temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE). A fragment of the 16S rRNA genes, comprising variable regions V6 to V8, was used as a target sequence for amplifications. PCR products from P. polymyxa (type strain) emerged as a well-defin...