反硝化功能基因—— 检测反硝化菌种群结构的分子标记

反硝化菌种类繁多, 且分属多个分类学上的不同种属, 故不能利用常规的16S rRNA测序方法对其进行研究。利用编码反硝化酶的功能基因作为分子标记, 可以有效研究环境样品中反硝化菌的种群结构、数量以及活性等。本文重点介绍了主要的反硝化功能基因以及常用的扩增引物, 分析了反硝化功能基因与16S rRNA系统发育之间的关系, 比较了nirS和nirK基因菌的群落分布特征, 对目前反硝化功能基因的研究和应用现状进行了综述, 讨论了研究中发现的新问题, 期望为研究复杂微生物的生态特征提供参考。

Denitrifying Functional Genes-the Molecular Marker for Detection of Denitrifying Community Structure

Denitrification is carried by a diversity of bacteria belonging taxonomically to the various genus, which precludes the use of 16S rRNA-based routine methods to study denitrifiers. However, as a molecular marker, the functional genes of encoding denitrifying enzyme can be employed to investigate the community structure, abundance and activity of denitrifying bacteria in environmental samples. In this review, we introduced the denitrifying functional genes and their amplifying primers, compared the phylogenetic relationship of the denitrifying functional genes with 16S rRNA genes and community distribution of nirS denitrifiers with nirK denitrifiers. The article also summarized the studies and applications recently of denitrifying functional genes, discussed the problems unresolved in researches, which would be expected to be a reference for studying complex microorganisms.