TABLE 3.

PCR primers and thermal cycling conditions used for gene quantification

Gene	Primer	Sequence	Amplicon size (bp)	Thermal conditions	Reference
Archaeal amoA	Arch-amoAF	STAATGGTCTGGCTTAGACG	635	95°C for 3 min and 35 cycles of 95°C for 30 s, 55°C for 30 s, and 72°C for 45 s + plate read; melt curve, 65.0°C–95.0°C; increment, 0.5°C, 5 s, + plate read	75
	Arch-amoAR	GCGGCCATCCATCTGTATGT
Bacterial amoA	amoA-1F	GGGGTTTCTACTGGTGGT	491	95°C for 3 min and 35 cycles of 95°C for 30 s, 55°C for 30 s, and 72°C for 45 s + plate read; melt curve, 65.0°C–95.0°C; increment, 0.5°C, 5 s, + plate read	63
	amoA-2R	CCCCTCKGSAAAGCCTTCTTC