In fact, biases are introduced at several levels of the experimental procedure: DNA extraction and purification, PCR amplification of the 16S rRNA gene, and interspecies variation of the rRNA gene copy number [21]. SP600125 supplier Conclusion The HTF-Microbi.Array has been revealed a fast and sensitive tool for the high taxonomic level fingerprint of the human intestinal microbiota in terms of presence/absence of the principal groups. Since the flexibility of the universal array platform allow the addition of new probe pairs without a further optimization of the hybridization conditions [25,

26], the HTF-Microbi.Array can be easy implemented with the addition of new probe pairs targeting emerging microbial groups of the human intestinal microbiota, such as, for instance, the mucin degrading bacterium Akkermansia muciniphila [34]. The find more evaluation of the relative abundance of the target groups on the bases of the relative IF probes response still has some hindrances. However, considered all the possible biases (i.e. DNA extraction/purification, PCR, copy number variations, etc.) typical of the microarray technology, analysis

of IFs from our LDR-UA platform can be useful in the estimation of the relative abundance of the targets groups within each sample. Focusing the phylogenetic resolution at division, order and cluster levels, the HTF-Microbi.Array results blind with respect to the inter-individual variability at CRM1 inhibitor the species level. Its potential to characterize the high order taxonomic unbalances of the human intestinal microbiota associated with specific diseases will be assessed in further studies. Methods Recruitment Eight healthy Italian individuals of 30 years old were enrolled for the study. None of the subjects had dietary Calpain restrictions except for antibiotics, probiotics and functional foods for at least 4 weeks prior to sampling. None of the selected subjects had a history of gastrointestinal disorders at the time of

sampling. The study protocol was approved by the Ethical committee of Sant’Orsola-Malpighi Hospital (Bologna, Italy) and an informed consent was obtained from each enrolled subject. Faeces were collected for each subject and stored at -20°C. Bacterial strains and culture conditions The bifidobacterial strains used in this study were Bifidobacterium adolescentis ATCC15703, B. bifidum DSM20456, B. breve DSM20091, B. longum ATCC15707. The Lactobacillus strains were Lactobacillus plantarum DSM21074, L. casei DSM20011, L. ramnosus DSM20021, L. salivarius SV2 (strain from our collection), L. delbrueckii DSM 20314, L. gasseri DSM20243, L. reuteri DSM20016, L. pentosus DSM20134, L. acidophilus DSM20079. All bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus strains were grown on De Man-Rogosa-Sharpe (MRS) broth with cysteine (0.5 g/l) at 37°C under an anaerobic atmosphere (Anaerocult, Merck, Darmstadt, Germany). Escherichia coli ATCC11105 was cultivated at 37°C aerobically on TY-broth.