Development of a semiquantitative degenerate real-time PCR-based assay for estimation of numbers of butyryl-coenzyme A (CoA) CoA transferase genes in complex bacterial samples

We describe a new degenerate real-time PCR approach to simultaneously quantify phylogenetically different butyrate-producing bacteria based on the detection of butyryll-coenzyme A (CoA) CoA transferase genes. This pathway is present in numerically important groups of butyrate producers within the human colon, and thus this assay estimates the butyrate-producing ability of the microbiota.