Center for Bio/Molecular Science & Engineering, Code 6900, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA.
Future Microbiol. 2010 Feb;5(2):191-203. doi: 10.2217/fmb.09.126.
Microarrays are massively parallel detection platforms that were first used extensively for gene expression studies, but have also been successfully applied to microbial detection in a number of diverse fields requiring broad-range microbial identification. This technology has enabled researchers to gain an insight into the microbial diversity of environmental samples, facilitated discovery of a number of new pathogens and enabled studies of multipathogen infections. In contrast to gene expression studies, the concentrations of targets in analyzed samples for microbial detection are usually much lower, and require the use of nucleic acid amplification techniques. The rapid advancement of manufacturing technologies has increased the content of the microarrays; thus, the required amplification is a challenging problem. The constant parallel improvements in both microarray and sample amplification techniques in the near future may lead to a radical progression in medical diagnostics and systems for efficient detection of microorganisms in the environment.
微阵列是大规模并行检测平台，最初广泛用于基因表达研究，但也已成功应用于许多需要广泛微生物鉴定的不同领域的微生物检测。这项技术使研究人员能够深入了解环境样本中的微生物多样性，有助于发现许多新的病原体，并能够进行多病原体感染的研究。与基因表达研究相比，微生物检测中分析样本中目标物的浓度通常要低得多，因此需要使用核酸扩增技术。制造技术的快速进步增加了微阵列的内容；因此，所需的扩增是一个具有挑战性的问题。在不久的将来，微阵列和样品扩增技术的不断平行改进可能会导致医学诊断和环境中微生物高效检测系统的重大进展。
