In their primary research article entitled “How to Deal with PCR Contamination in Molecular Microbial Ecology” (2013), Adele Mennerat and Ben C. Sheldon of the University of Bergen, argue that decontamination methods should be standardized in molecular microbial ecology due to the potential impact of contaminant microbial DNA present in PCR reagents on microbial community assessments (1). Despite meticulous sterilization steps taken before and during their experimental PCR amplification process, all negative controls displayed bacterial richness, within the same range as their positive samples, providing evidence that contamination did not result from lab practices but rather from contaminated PCR reagents (1). The purpose of this research is to impress the potential for contamination from PCR reagents and and test the impact of enzymatic treatments and the reducing agent dithiothreitol (DTT) on PCR amplification in order to establish an appropriate decontamination method for PCR-based approaches (1). Anderson and Sheldon establish a relationship with both the research and academic sectors of the scientific community, especially those involved in microbial ecology.
1. Mennerat A, Sheldon B. 2014. How to Deal with PCR Contamination in Molecular Microbial Ecology. Microbial Ecology 68:834-841.
