A Taxon-specific Oligonucleotide Primer Set for PCR-based Detection of Soil Ciliate

Abstract

A PCR primer set was designed to amplify the 18S rRNA gene from the phylum Ciliophora (ciliates). The pair amplified DNA from 5 organisms representing the major taxonomic groups of ciliates but not from 13 non-ciliate organisms. To test the ability of the primers to amplify ciliate rRNA genes from environmental samples, a clone library was constructed from an agricultural soil sample and analyzed. The rRNA gene sequences of all clones were affiliated with the Ciliophora. This newly developed PCR primer set is able to amplify ciliate rRNA genes from soil, and may be useful for the detection and identification of ciliates.