Microbial Biotechnology

Environmental Biotechnology

Electronic Journal of Biotechnology ISSN: 0717-3458 Vol. 10 No. 3, Issue of July 15, 2007
© 2007 by Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso -- Chile Received May 22, 2006 / Accepted January 16, 2007
DOI: 10.2225/vol10-issue3-fulltext-6
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Extraction of bulk DNA from Thar Desert soils for optimization of PCR-DGGE based microbial community analysis

Raj Kumar Gothwal
Birla Institute of Scientific Research
Statue Circle, Jaipur-302 001
Rajasthan, India
Tel: 911412385283
Fax: 911412385121
E-mail: r_gothwal@yahoo.com

Vinod Kumar Nigam
Birla Institute of Scientific Research
Statue Circle, Jaipur-302 001
Rajasthan, India
Tel: 911412385283
Fax: 911412385121
E-mail:nigam_vinod@yahoo.com

M. Krishna Mohan
Birla Institute of Scientific Research
Statue Circle, Jaipur-302 001
Rajasthan, India
Tel: 911412385283
Fax: 911412385121
E-mail: kmohan9@hotmail.com

Dinakar Sasmal
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Birla Institute of Technology
Mesra-835 215 Ranchi
Jharkhand, India
Tel: 916512275872
Fax: 916512275401
E-mail:dsasmal@bitmesra.ac.in

Purnendu Ghosh*
Birla Institute of Scientific Research
Statue Circle, Jaipur-302 001
Rajasthan, India
Tel: 911412385283
Fax: 911412385121
E-mail: pghosh9@yahoo.com

*Corresponding author

Financial support: This work was carried out as in house project.

Keywords: arid soils, microbial community, PCR-DGGE, rhizosphere, soil DNA extraction.

Abbreviations:

DGGE: denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis
EDTA: ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid
PCR: polymerase chain reaction
rRNA: ribosomal RNA
SDS: sodium dodecyl sulfate
SRB: sulfate reducing bacteria

Abstract
Full Text

A reliable method for characterizing microbial communities on the basis of their differences in the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequences in the hot arid zone sandy soils has been optimized. A desert plant (Calligonum polygonoides) was chosen to provide the rhizospheric soil samples, collected from three different agro-ecological locations. Total community DNA was efficiently extracted at small-scale level using direct lysis with hot sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), glass bead beating and finally subjecting the sandy soil to liquid nitrogen freeze-thaw cycles. To amplify V3 region of bacterial 16S rRNA gene, universal conserved primers were used. Second round polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was attempted to increase product concentration and to minimize the effect of inhibitory substances. To enhance the detection sensitivity of the denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), the effect of change in template DNA concentration was studied. The separation of bands were greatly enhanced in the fingerprints obtained after the second round of PCR representing low abundant species which were not differentiated at single optimized concentration of DNA.

Supported by UNESCO / MIRCEN network