African Journal of
Biotechnology

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Biotechnol.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1684-5315
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJB
  • Start Year: 2002
  • Published Articles: 12486

Review

Reverse transcriptase-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and its usefulness in soil microbial ecological studies - A review

Stella Asuming-Brempong
  • Stella Asuming-Brempong
  • Department of Soil Science, College of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
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  •  Received: 13 December 2013
  •  Accepted: 10 January 2014
  •  Published: 05 February 2014

Abstract

The reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) is a highly specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method that allows one to detect very low transcription levels of functional gene(s) in soil. RT-qPCR helps us to know the active members of the microbial community, and their activities can be linked with other ecological processes in soil. If after the extraction of RNA from soil, the mRNA is converted to cDNA which is then sequenced, one would analyze directly the active members of the microbial community.

 

Key words: Complementary DNA (cDNA), messenger RNA (mRNA), reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), soil microbial study, microbial community.

Abbreviation

Abbreviations: FRET, Fluorescence resonanace energy transfer; TG, target gene; CG, control gene; GAPDH, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase; RT-qPCR, reverse transcriptase-quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

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This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

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