Patent ID: 7449328

Claim:
A device for detecting nucleic acids, comprising: a solid support; and a plurality of addresses disposed on the solid support, each address comprising at least one detectably labeled probe capable of hybridizing to ribosomal nucleic acids from at least one microbial species under high stringency conditions, said plurality of addresses comprising a first address comprising one or more detectably labeled probes capable of hybridizing to ribosomal nucleic acids of more than one microbial species, and a second address comprising a mixture of (a) a first detectably labeled probe capable of hybridizing to ribosomal nucleic acids from a subset of species having ribosomal nucleic acids that hybridize at the first address, and (b) a second detectably labeled probe capable of hybridizing to ribosomal nucleic acids from a microbial species which does not have ribosomal nucleic acids that hybridize at the first address, but not capable of hybridizing to ribosomal nucleic acids from any microbial species having ribosomal nucleic acids that hybridize at the first address.