DGGE condition. The DGGE was performed
using the D-GENE System (Bio-Rad, USA) DGGE
equipment. Equal amounts of DNA were loaded onto
8% (w/v) polyacrylamide gels (40% acrylamide/bissolution, 37.5:1) with denaturing gradients ranging
40%–60% for the bacterial DNA and 25%–40% for the
fungal DNA. The gels were run at 60
◦C and 80 V
for 16 h. The digital images of the gels were analyzed
using image analysis, thereby quantifying the bands
(Quantity One 4.6.3, Bio-Rad). The relative intensity
of a band was expressed as the ratio between the intensity of that band and the total intensity of all bands
in that lane.
DNA sequencing. The DGGE bands were excised and the DNA from each band was eluted in 50
μL of sterile water, overnight at 4
◦
C. OneμL of each
eluted DNA band was re-amplified using the conditions described above. PCR products were analyzed