Comparison of the molecular methods, terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism and denaturant gradient gel electrophoresis, to characterize the microbiota in feces from breastfed infants

Abstract

Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and denaturant gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) were applied to characterize the intestinal microbiota in stool samples from seven breastfed infants during the first seven months of life. A comparison of dendrograms revealed differences between the cluster patterns obtained using the two methods. These results do not support the findings of previous studies that have demonstrated strong similarities between dendrograms constructed from stool samples using the two techniques. However, both techniques were able to show patterns of bacterial succession and unique differences in the microbiota composition of each individual studied.