Advances towards integrated biodetection systems for environmental molecular microbiology

To overcome many of the limitations associated with indirect detection methods, new techniques for the sensitive, specific, and direct detection of nucleic acids are required in order to accurately and quantitatively ascribe phenotype/function to uncultivated microorganisms. However, if advanced diagnostic and detection systems are going to be applied in environmental microbiology, future "biodetection" technologies and systems must be developed not from the point of view of the detector, but from the unique aspects of the environmental sample and the entire analytical process. This article highlights recent advances in nucleic acid-based technologies, and looks towards future advances that may address the broad needs and conditions imposed by environmental molecular microbiology.