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. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.