Figure 1

Schematic representation of LDR applied to microbial diversity. A) Each microbial group of interest is identified by a Common Probe and a Discriminating Oligo. The common probe is phosphorylated on its 5' end and contains a unique cZip Code affixed to its 3' end. The discriminating oligo carries a fluorescent label (Cy3) on its 5' end, and a discriminating base at its 3' terminal position. The two probes hybridize adjacently to each other on the template DNA (PCR-amplified rDNA) and the nick between the two oligos is sealed by the ligase only if there is perfect complementarity at the junction. The reaction can be thermally cycled B) The presence of a microbial group is determined by hybridizing the content of a LDR to an addressable DNA Universal Array, where unique Zip Code sequences have been spotted.