Effect of DNA polymerases on PCR-DGGE patterns

PCR-based molecular biological techniques became fundamental in the analysis of microbial communities. One of the most popular techniques is PCR-DGGE wherein the outcome is greatly influenced by the DNA amplification process. A large number of different factors were described as key elements for successful amplification, however the potential effect of the DNA polymerase itself has not been analyzed in detail. In this study, three different DNA polymerases were tested in PCR-DGGE analysis of complex microbial communities. The wildly used Taq was compared to two highly processive and accurate DNA polymerases. According to the results, the utilization of different DNA polymerases indeed influences the produced fingerprints in PCR-DGGE analysis. KOD DNA polymerase presented the best performance, and was also found to have remarkable resistance against humic acids.