High-density sampling differential display of prokaryotic mRNAs with RAP-PCR.

A high-throughput approach to prokaryotic differential display has been developed. A large number of reverse transcription polymerase chain reactions (RT-PCR) are performed on total RNA isolated from induced and control bacterial cultures. Each RT-PCR reaction uses a single oligonucleotide primer and constitutes an independent sampling of the mRNA population. The large number of reactions performed allows the repeated sampling of the targeted polycistronic mRNA, which is clearly identified among possible false positives.