A NOVEL STUDY OF MICROBIAL COMMUNITY RESPONSE TO TOXIC SHOCK LOADINGS BY DENATURING HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY (DHPLC) METHOD

A novel denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC)-based technique was developed to rapidly separate and identify signature in precursor 16S rRNA levels among activated sludge samples. The chromatography results showed the distinct differences in retention time of the individual species for precursor 16S rRNA, thus providing a relative qualitative and quantitative characterization of species in a precursor 16S complex. Furthermore, comparison pure culture with sludge sample indicates the pure culture might process 16S RNA different from the environmental samples. This study is an expansion of previous reverse transcription & primer extension (RT & PE) approach, and it is the first to document activated sludge response to toxic shock loadings using DHPLC-based quantification of precursor16S rRNA levels. The anticipated outcome is to demonstrate the effectiveness of ribosome genesis as a sensitive indicator of toxic loading.