Analysis of soil samples for human comensal micro-organism to determine the degree of human induced microbial contamination of heavily used regions

The samples were analysed with PCR based methods using a range of genus- and species-specific DNA primers to detect human commensal microbiota. The aim was to monitor the rate and degree of contamination of heavily impacted regions by human activities.

Pristine samples were recovered from relatively inaccessible sites high on the eastern wall of the valleys. Ornithogenic soils were sampled from various sites in the Adele penguin colony at Cape Crozier for comparative microbial diversity studies as these samples could be valuable negative controls for the 'non-indigenous' microorganisms study, for confirming that positive signals with particular sets are not the result of cross-reactivity with microbial species that are carried by higher eukaryotes other than humans.