Relman D A, Falkow S
Department of Medicine, Stanford University, California.
Infect Agents Dis. 1992 Oct;1(5):245-53.
The combination of enzymatic nucleic acid amplification techniques with 16S rRNA-based molecular phylogeny has brought about a new approach to the identification of microbial pathogens that can not be cultivated in the laboratory. The applications of this experimental approach to bacillary angiomatosis and to Whipple's disease have revealed the presence of two previously uncharacterized organisms. These results suggest the existence of a far greater microbial diversity among human pathogens than has been so far appreciated with culture-dependent methods. PCR-based studies of aquatic environmental microbial communities have already reached similar conclusions. As a result, new and provocative questions are raised concerning the association of amplified 16S rRNA sequences with diseased tissue. The answers must await the results of further investigations and the expansion of sequence data bases.
酶促核酸扩增技术与基于16S rRNA的分子系统发育学相结合，带来了一种鉴定实验室无法培养的微生物病原体的新方法。这种实验方法在杆菌性血管瘤病和惠普尔病中的应用揭示了两种以前未被鉴定的生物体的存在。这些结果表明，人类病原体中的微生物多样性远比目前基于培养方法所认识到的要丰富得多。对水生环境微生物群落进行的基于PCR的研究已经得出了类似的结论。因此，关于扩增的16S rRNA序列与患病组织之间的关联，引发了新的且具有启发性的问题。答案有待进一步研究结果以及序列数据库的扩充。
