Figure 3. Comparison of expected and estimated 16S rRNA gene copies in bacterial DNA samples.

Expected bacterial 16S rRNA gene copies were calculated based on four and five 16S copies per genome for (a) P. aeruginosa and (b) D. vulgaris, respectively. Black bars = predicted 16S copies. White bars = estimated 16S copies based on supercoiled plasmid standard. Grey bars = estimated 16S copies based on nicked-circular plasmid standard. Black and white striped bars = estimated 16S copies based on linearized plasmid standard. Black and gray striped bars = estimated 16S copies based on amplicon-based standard. Data are the average (n = 3) and error bars are ±1 standard deviation among replicates.