Nucleic Acid

Hybridization
Examples of nucleic acid hybridization techniques

• Southern blotting,
• DNA chips, and
• Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization (FISH)
FISH, or fluorescent in situ hybridization.
Putting Classification
Methods Together
Information obtained about microbes is
used to identify and classify the
organisms. Two methods of using the
information are described next
 Dichotomous keys

Dichotomous keys are used for the identification of

organisms.
In a dichotomous key, identification is based on
successive questions, and each question has two
possible answers (dichotomous means cut in two)
 Cladograms

• are maps that show evolutionary relationships

among organisms
• microorganisms don’t leave fossils; therefore,
rRNA sequencing is primarily used to make
cladograms for microorganisms.