Quantifying Environmental Microorganisms and Viruses Using qPCR

Source: Laboratories of Dr. Ian Pepper and Dr. Charles Gerba - The University of Arizona
Demonstrating Author: Bradley Schmitz

Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), also known as real-time PCR, is a widely-used molecular technique for enumerating microorganisms in the environment. P...

The advent of quantitative polymerase chain reaction, or qPCR, has made it possible to quantitatively determine the amount of any microorganism in an environmental sample.

Like standard PCR, qPCR identifies microorganisms by detecting for the presence or absence of DNA sequences specific to the organisms of interest. This allows for the de...