Impact of molecular biology techniques on the detection and characterization of microorganisms and biofilms involved in MIC

Recently, the application of molecular techniques has greatly improved our knowledge of microbial diversity and distribution in environmental samples. In this paper, we have reviewed the molecular biology techniques that can be used to study microorganisms and biofilms involved in the MIC phenomenon. These techniques include 16S ribosomal DNA (16S rDNA) gene based techniques. In particular, 16S rDNA sequencing, the construction of 16S rDNAs libraries, Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH), Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) and Random Amplification of Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) are techniques which can be used to identify and detect bacteria, as well as, to monitor bacteria organized in complex MIC biofilms. In addition to 16S rDNA, the RAPD technique can be applied to obtain probes for detecting bacteria involved in MIC, without any information concerning the bacteria of interest. These techniques can greatly improve our knowledge about MIC.