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Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Assembly and Tracking of Microbial Community Development within a Microwell Array Platform
Published on: June 6, 2017
Monitoring microbial community structure and dynamics during in situ U(VI) bioremediation with a field-portable
Darrell P Chandler1, Alexander Kukhtin, Rebecca Mokhiber
1Akonni Biosystems, Inc., Frederick, Maryland 21701, USA. dchandler@akonni.com
Abstract:
The objective of this study was to develop and validate a simple, field-portable, microarray system for monitoring microbial community structure and dynamics in groundwater and subsurface environments, using samples representing site status before acetate injection, during Fe-reduction, in the transition from Fe- to SO(4)(2-)-reduction, and into the SO(4)(2-)-reduction phase. Limits of detection for the array are approximately 10(2)-10(3) cell equivalents of DNA per reaction. Sample-to-answer results for the field deployment were obtained in 4 h. Retrospective analysis of 50 samples showed the expected progression of microbial signatures from Fe- to SO(4)(2-) -reducers with changes in acetate amendment and in situ field conditions. The microarray response for Geobacter was highly correlated with qPCR for the same target gene (R(2) = 0.84). Microarray results were in concordance with quantitative PCR data, aqueous chemistry, site lithology, and the expected microbial community response, indicating that the field-portable microarray is an accurate indicator of microbial presence and response to in situ remediation of a uranium-contaminated site.
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