基因芯片技术在环境微生物群落研究中的应用

基因芯片技术作为一种快速、敏感、高通量的检测技术,近几年来在环境微生物群落研究中的应用越来越广泛并且得到充分的发展.它不仅可以研究环境微生物群落的微生物分布、种类、功能、动力学变化,还能分析环境污染等环境因素改变对其微生物生态的影响.本文按照基因芯片探针的设计方法,将环境样品群落研究基因芯片分为系统寡核苷酸芯片、功能基因芯片、群落基因组芯片、宏基因组芯片,并简要综述了该技术在活性污泥、土壤、水等环境样品微生物群落研究上的应用,最后,本文展望了该技术的研究方向和在寻找不同环境微生物群落之间差异微生物、差异基因或差异表达基因研究中的应用前景.     

农业土壤微生物基因与群落多样性研究进展

介绍了群落基因组多样性、结构多样性与功能多样性相互关系的研究方法 ,重点论述了近年来农业土壤微生物群落遗传、结构与功能多样性的研究进展。同时总结了耕作措施和养分管理对农业土壤微生物群落多样性的影响 ,提出微生物序列分析、比较基因组学和微生物芯片技术与传统研究技术结合将有助于对微生物群落结构与功能和生物与环境因素对土壤微生物群落影响的深刻理解     

用于分析微生物种类组成的微生物生态学研究方法

对环境中微生物群落进行分析对于理解该环境中各类微生物的功能具有重要意义,因此日益受到重视。用于环境中微生物群落分析的方法很多,将简要介绍基于PCR的研究方法,原位杂交技术,基因芯片技术,宏蛋白质组学技术等研究方法的原理、应用及其优缺点。     

微生物分子生态学研究方法及其存在的缺陷

微生物群落多样性是微生物生态学和环境学研究的重点之一.分子生物学方法应用于微生物群落结构分析使得对环境样品中占大多数的不可培养微生物的研究成为了可能.然而,PCR过程中的偏差(bias)会引起结果并不能如实地再现原始的群落结构,随着多个宏基因组项目的研究,发现所谓的“通用引物”并不能覆盖全部的微生物类型,即使可以添加简并碱基,也无法与通过宏基因组得到的rRNA序列完全匹配,这导致了在诸多研究中会忽略环境中的微生物群落.即使是不经过PCR扩增的元基因组和元转录组学研究方法,对于分子微生物群落也存在着一定的问题.     

生物冶金过程中的关键微生物及其碳循环代谢途径研究

【目的】深入研究极端酸性环境中微生物的碳循环过程。【方法】应用16S r RNA高通量测序和功能基因芯片技术对德兴铜矿中浸矿堆(LH)和积液池(LS)两个子系统中的微生物群落结构组成和功能基因组成进行分析;并运用PICRUSt功能基因预测的方法对群落功能进行预测。【结果】功能基因芯片和功能预测分析都表明碳循环基因在子系统间存在显著差异(P0.05),且碳固定相关的卡尔文循环、还原性三羧酸循环等基因以及碳降解相关的己聚糖和纤维素等基因在LS系统中都要明显高于LH系统。碳循环功能基因在子系统之间的差异与环境条件相关,其中TON、Ca、ES、Fe3+和P作用显著。【结论】在极端酸性环境中,环境条件的差异会对微生物群落碳循环功能基因产生筛选作用,参与碳循环的微生物的种类和相对丰度都发生变化,最终改变了群落碳循环模式。     

寡核苷酸芯片在微生物检测中的应用

近几年来发展起来的基因组研究技术———基因芯片技术为微生物检测提供了一种强有力的手段。目前国内外已广泛地开展了利用寡核苷酸芯片对多种微生物 (主要是病毒和细菌 ,少量有真菌 )进行相关检测的研究 ,并在对微生物病原体检测、种类鉴定、功能基因检测、基因分型、突变检测、基因组监测等方面获得了成功。由于寡核苷酸探针具有可根据研究需要任意设计、特异性高等特点 ,寡核苷酸芯片在微生物检测中有着巨大的应用价值 ,具有广阔的应用前景。     

微生物分子生态学研究方法的新进展

环境中微生物的群落结构及多样性和微生物的功能及代谢机理是微生物生态学的研究热点,长期以来,由于受到研究技术的限制,对微生物的群落结构和多样性的认识还不全面,微生物的功能及代谢机理方面了解也很少.随着高通量测序、基因芯片等新技术的不断更新,微生物分子生态学的研究方法和研究途径也在不断变化.高通量测序技术改变了微生物多样性、宏基因组学和宏转录组学的研究方法,GeoChip高密度覆盖海量已知功能的基因探针于单张芯片,能快速确定微生物和已知功能基因的存在与否.总结和比较了目前最新的研究手段,并归纳了这些方法的适用性和优缺点.     

基因芯片技术在微生物学研究中的应用

近年来,基因芯片技术的诞生使得在一个实验中就可以同时对成千上万个基因进行转录水平的表达和DNA同源性分析成为可能。该项技术已被应用于揭示许多微生物体的转录表达和基因组的差异,随着越来越多的微生物基因组全序列测定的完成,基因芯片正逐渐成为许多微生物学研究领域中的一项常规技术。归纳了该技术在微生物生理,致病性,流行病学,生态,进化,代谢工程及发酵优化等研究中的应用。     

变性梯度凝胶电泳在环境微生物生态学中的应用

PCR-变性梯度凝胶电泳(PCR-DGGE)具有可靠性强、重复性好、方便快捷等优点,已被广泛应用于环境生态学中微生物群落多样性、动态性分析和功能细菌的跟踪。本文综述了PCR-DGGE技术的基本原理,不同DNA提取方法的比较,不同PCR方式的比较及其在环境生态学中研究微生物群落多样性、环境中微生物群落变化的动态监测、硝化菌-反硝化菌和硫酸还原菌(SRB)的动态分析和监测等领域中的应用,并对该技术自身存在的局限性和应用前景进行了评价。     

微生物分子生态学发展历史及研究现状

微生物群落多样性是微生物生态学和环境学研究的重点之一。分子生物学方法应用于微生物群落结构分析使得对环境样品中占大多数的不可培养微生物的研究成为了可能。由于功能上高度保守,序列上的不同位置具有不同的变异速率,核糖体RNA（rRNA）是目前在微生物分子生态学上最为有用以及应用最广泛的分子标记,通过rRNA序列比对,可以分析不同分类水平的系统发育关系。元基因组学研究方法通过对环境样品中的各种微生物群落的总的基因组进行分析,充分展示了环境微生物代谢途径,极大地扩展了对微生物的认识。快速发展的高通量测序极大地促进了各项微生物生态学技术的发展,带来了新的突破。     

Microarray-based analysis of subnanogram quantities of microbial community DNAs by using whole-community genome amplification

Microarray technology provides the opportunity to identify thousands of microbial genes or populations simultaneously, but low microbial biomass often prevents application of this technology to many natural microbial communities. We developed a whole-community genome amplification-assisted microarray detection approach based on multiple displacement amplification. The representativeness of amplification was evaluated using several types of microarrays and quantitative indexes. Representative detection of individual genes or genomes was obtained with 1 to 100 ng DNA from individual or mixed genomes, in equal or unequal abundance, and with 1 to 500 ng community DNAs from groundwater. Lower concentrations of DNA (as low as 10 fg) could be detected, but the lower template concentrations affected the representativeness of amplification. Robust quantitative detection was also observed by significant linear relationships between signal intensities and initial DNA concentrations ranging from (i) 0.04 to 125 ng (r2 = 0.65 to 0.99) for DNA from pure cultures as detected by whole-genome open reading frame arrays, (ii) 0.1 to 1,000 ng (r2 = 0.91) for genomic DNA using community genome arrays, and (iii) 0.01 to 250 ng (r2 = 0.96 to 0.98) for community DNAs from ethanol-amended groundwater using 50-mer functional gene arrays. This method allowed us to investigate the oligotrophic microbial communities in groundwater contaminated with uranium and other metals. The results indicated that microorganisms containing genes involved in contaminant degradation and immobilization are present in these communities, that their spatial distribution is heterogeneous, and that microbial diversity is greatly reduced in the highly contaminated environment.     

Microarray-Based Analysis of Subnanogram Quantities of Microbial Community DNAs by Using Whole-Community Genome Amplification

Microarray technology provides the opportunity to identify thousands of microbial genes or populations simultaneously, but low microbial biomass often prevents application of this technology to many natural microbial communities. We developed a whole-community genome amplification-assisted microarray detection approach based on multiple displacement amplification. The representativeness of amplification was evaluated using several types of microarrays and quantitative indexes. Representative detection of individual genes or genomes was obtained with 1 to 100 ng DNA from individual or mixed genomes, in equal or unequal abundance, and with 1 to 500 ng community DNAs from groundwater. Lower concentrations of DNA (as low as 10 fg) could be detected, but the lower template concentrations affected the representativeness of amplification. Robust quantitative detection was also observed by significant linear relationships between signal intensities and initial DNA concentrations ranging from (i) 0.04 to 125 ng (r² = 0.65 to 0.99) for DNA from pure cultures as detected by whole-genome open reading frame arrays, (ii) 0.1 to 1,000 ng (r² = 0.91) for genomic DNA using community genome arrays, and (iii) 0.01 to 250 ng (r² = 0.96 to 0.98) for community DNAs from ethanol-amended groundwater using 50-mer functional gene arrays. This method allowed us to investigate the oligotrophic microbial communities in groundwater contaminated with uranium and other metals. The results indicated that microorganisms containing genes involved in contaminant degradation and immobilization are present in these communities, that their spatial distribution is heterogeneous, and that microbial diversity is greatly reduced in the highly contaminated environment.     

Metagenomics for studying unculturable microorganisms: cutting the Gordian knot

More than 99% of prokaryotes in the environment cannot be cultured in the laboratory, a phenomenon that limits our understanding of microbial physiology, genetics, and community ecology. One way around this problem is metagenomics, the culture-independent cloning and analysis of microbial DNA extracted directly from an environmental sample. Recent advances in shotgun sequencing and computational methods for genome assembly have advanced the field of metagenomics to provide glimpses into the life of uncultured microorganisms.     

Diagnostic microbial microarrays in soil ecology

Soil microbial communities are responsible for important physiological and metabolic processes. In the last decade soil microorganisms have been frequently analysed by cultivation-independent techniques because only a minority of the natural microbial communities are accessible by cultivation. Cultivation-independent community analyses have revolutionized our understanding of soil microbial diversity and population dynamics. Nevertheless, many methods are still laborious and time-consuming, and high-throughput methods have to be applied in order to understand population shifts at a finer level and to be better able to link microbial diversity with ecosystems functioning. Microbial diagnostic microarrays (MDMs) represent a powerful tool for the parallel, high-throughput identification of many microorganisms. Three categories of MDMs have been defined based on the nature of the probe and target molecules used: phylogenetic oligonucleotide microarrays with short oligonucleotides against a phylogenetic marker gene; functional gene arrays containing probes targeting genes encoding specific functions; and community genome arrays employing whole genomes as probes. In this review, important methodological developments relevant to the application of the different types of diagnostic microarrays in soil ecology will be addressed and new approaches, needs and future directions will be identified, which might lead to a better insight into the functional activities of soil microbial communities.     

Analysis of environmental microbial communities by reverse sample genome probing

Development of fast and accurate methods for monitoring environmental microbial diversity is one of the great challenges in microbiology today. Oligonucleotide probes based on 16S rRNA sequences are widely used to identify bacteria in the environment. However, the successful development of a chip of immobilized 16S rRNA probes for identification of large numbers of species in a single hybridization step has not yet been reported. In reverse sample genome probing (RSGP), labelled total community DNA is hybridized to arrays in which genomes of cultured microorganisms are spotted on a solid support in denatured form. This method has provided useful information on changes in composition of the cultured component of microbial communities in oil fields, the soil rhizhosphere, hydrocarbon-contaminated soils and acid mine drainage sites. Applications and limitations of the method, as well as the prospects of extending RSGP to cover also the as yet uncultured component of microbial communities, are evaluated.     

High-Throughput Analysis of Ammonia Oxidiser Community Composition via a Novel,amoA-Based Functional Gene Array

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.     

现代分子生物学技术在瘤胃微生态系统研究中的应用

瘤胃中栖息着大量的微生物,由于这些微生物组成复杂且有些细菌在体外无法培养,目前对这些微生物的了解仍然很少。现代分子生物学技术的发展为研究瘤胃微生物提供了有效的方法,利用核酸探针、基因序列分析、遗传指纹技术、全细胞杂交和实时定量PCR等技术可以对瘤胃微生物的分类及进化关系、区系结构图、重要酶的表达以及目的微生物的准确定量进行更为深入和透彻的研究。发展和利用这些技术不仅可以研究微生物之间的关系以及微生物与饲料颗粒之间时间与空间的关系,还能直接在细菌自然生长的环境中对其各种特征进行研究。     

Microarrays for bacterial detection and microbial community analysis

Several types of microarrays have recently been developed and evaluated for bacterial detection and microbial community analysis. These studies demonstrated that specific, sensitive and quantitative detection could be obtained with both functional gene arrays and community genome arrays. Although single-base mismatch can be differentiated with phylogenetic oligonucleotide arrays, reliable specific detection at the single-base level is still problematic. Microarray-based hybridization approaches are also useful for defining genome diversity and bacterial relatedness. However, more rigorous and systematic assessment and development are needed to realize the full potential of microarrays for microbial detection and community analysis.