Electrophoretic Techniques in Microbial Ecology

Classical microbial ecology analysis is limited by the unavoidable need for isolation of the microorganisms prior to their characterization. Although it is obvious that isolation of microorganisms is indispensable for their full characterization, it is now well recognised among microbiologists that only a small fraction of all bacteria have been isolated and characterised (Ward et al., 1992). Comparison of the percentage of culturable bacteria with total cell counts from different habitats showed enormous discrepancies (summarised by Amann et al., 1995).The introduction of molecular biology methods (such as fluorescent in situ hybridization, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis or cloning) has enabled a significant advance in microbial ecology (Amann et al., 1995), especially in the study of extreme environments such as acidic habitats, in which conventional methods are severely limited, and some may even lead to equivocal conclusions, with occasionally grievous economic consequences.