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Updated: Jul 16, 2026

Microbial Communities in Nature and Laboratory - Interview
Published on: May 28, 2007
Unravelling microbial communities with DNA-microarrays: challenges and future directions
Michael Wagner1, Hauke Smidt, Alexander Loy
1Department of Microbial Ecology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, A-1090, Wien, Austria. wagner@microbial-ecology.net
Abstract:
High-throughput technologies are urgently needed for monitoring the formidable biodiversity and functional capabilities of microorganisms in the environment. Ten years ago, DNA microarrays, miniaturized platforms for highly parallel hybridization reactions, found their way into environmental microbiology and raised great expectations among researchers in the field. In this article, we briefly summarize the state-of-the-art of microarray approaches in microbial ecology research and discuss in more detail crucial problems and promising solutions. Finally, we outline scenarios for an innovative combination of microarrays with other molecular tools for structure-function analysis of complex microbial communities.
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