Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists

Metagenomics is a rapidly growing field of research that has had a dramatic effect on the way we view and study the microbial world. By permitting the direct investigation of bacteria, viruses and fungi irrespective of their culturability and taxonomic identities, metagenomics has changed microbiological theory and methods and has also challenged the classical concept of species. This new field of biology has proven to be rich and comprehensive and is making important contributions in many areas including ecology, biodiversity, bioremediation, bioprospection of natural products, and in medicine.

from Diana Marco in Metagenomics: Theory, Methods and Applications

Labels: archaea, archaeal metagenomics, bioremediation, horizontal gene transfer, metagenomics, microbial communities, microbiome, plant-microbe interactions

Metagenomics, which can be defined as the science of biological diversity, consists of the genomic analysis of a microbial population with similar but not identical members, by the use of genetic and molecular analysis. A comprehensive metagenomic study provides understanding of the dynamics of a microbial population and includes analysis of nucleotide sequence, structure, regulation and function. Metagenomics has applications in a broad range of areas. For example the metagenomics approach has been used to study the intestinal microflora (Norin et al 2009 in Lactobacillus Molecular Biology), in studies of bioremediation and biodegradation (Díaz 2008 Microbial Biodegradation), and in the study of bacteriophage in the environment (Weinbauer et al 2007 in Bacteriophage: Genetics and Molecular Biology).

Further reading: Metagenomics: Theory, Methods and Applications

Labels: metagenomics