TABLE 2.

Oligonucleotide primers used for PCR amplification of bacterial genes.

Target gene	Primer	Position (length [nt])	Consensus sequencea	Reference organism	PCR fragment size (bp)	Target bacteria (target enzyme)
alkB	Forward	495-521 (27)	5′-CIG IIC ACG AII TIG GIC ACA AGA AGG-3′	Rhodococcus sp. strain Q15	549	Hexadecane degraders (alkane hydroxylase)
	Reverse	1018-1044 (27)	5′-IGC ITG ITG ATC III GTG ICG CTG IAG-3′
nirK	Forward	560-589 (30)	5′-GGG CAT GAA CGG CGC GCT CAT GGT GCT GCC-3′	P. aureofaciens ATCC 13985	376	Nitrite oxidizers (Cu-nitrite reductase)
	Reverse	906-935 (30)	5′-CGG GTT GGC GAA CTT GCC GGT GGT CCA GAC-3′

^aI, inosine.