Metagenomics is an area that allows the study of microbial communities without prior cultivation. In that sense, several other fields like Microbiology, Ecology and Biotechnology have applied Metagenomics applications to broaden the scope of each discipline.
In general, we can define two main areas of interest in Metagenomics: Biodiversity and Functionality. The former tackles the taxonomic distribution of microbial communities by analyzing genetic markers such as ribosomal genes or very conserved single copy genes. The latter focuses on the gene content and their products trying to find novel enzymatic functions or metabolic pathways. The approaches, sequencing technologies and bioinformatic tools to achieve these goals have evolved in the last decade, however the isolation of communities from many different environments and conditions maintain Metagenomics a challenging field.
Metagenomics is an area that allows the study of microbial communities without prior cultivation. In that sense, several other fields like Microbiology, Ecology and Biotechnology have applied Metagenomics applications to broaden the scope of each discipline.
In general, we can define two main areas of interest in Metagenomics: Biodiversity and Functionality. The former tackles the taxonomic distribution of microbial communities by analyzing genetic markers such as ribosomal genes or very conserved single copy genes. The latter focuses on the gene content and their products trying to find novel enzymatic functions or metabolic pathways. The approaches, sequencing technologies and bioinformatic tools to achieve these goals have evolved in the last decade, however the isolation of communities from many different environments and conditions maintain Metagenomics a challenging field.
