FIG. 3.

Alignment of the sequences of universal amplification primers 27F and 1492R and their target regions on the 16S rRNA genes of B. subtilis, V. fischeri, and V. anguillarum. The two primers each contain a single degeneracy (between C and T and between C and A, respectively). In the B. subtilis gene both priming sites contain a G at the degenerate site, which most likely results in a higher melting temperature for the primer-target duplex than the melting temperature for the two Vibrio genes, which contain an A and a T at the two positions.