Question

How is PCR used to identify bacteria?

Answer 1

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR):

1. It is a procedure used in laboratories for the amplification of specific samples of DNAs thus producing billions of DNA copies.
2. Process of PCR is mainly based on the enzymatic replication of DNA samples using the enzyme DNA polymerase.
3. A primer is a single-stranded fragment of a DNA molecule.
4. Steps involved in the process of polymerase chain reaction are:

• Denaturation: For the separation of double-stranded DNA, they are heated which is termed denaturation.
• Annealing: In this process, at the flanking regions of targeted DNA, primers are added.
• Extension: Extension of the primer with the use of DNA polymerase takes place at the 3' end of each primer present along the template strand.

Use of PCR for the detection of bacteria:

1. Polymerase chain reaction is used to make multiple copies of nucleic acids.
2. This method is implied to easily diagnose even very minute quantities of bacterial DNA present in the sample.
3. After the amplification of DNA to get thousands of copies of specific DNA sequences they are separated using the process of gel electrophoresis and that's how bacterial DNA is identified and separated.