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      Metagenomics: genomic analysis of microbial communities.

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          Abstract

          Uncultured microorganisms comprise the majority of the planet's biological diversity. Microorganisms represent two of the three domains of life and contain vast diversity that is the product of an estimated 3.8 billion years of evolution. In many environments, as many as 99% of the microorganisms cannot be cultured by standard techniques, and the uncultured fraction includes diverse organisms that are only distantly related to the cultured ones. Therefore, culture-independent methods are essential to understand the genetic diversity, population structure, and ecological roles of the majority of microorganisms. Metagenomics, or the culture-independent genomic analysis of an assemblage of microorganisms, has potential to answer fundamental questions in microbial ecology. This review describes progress toward understanding the biology of uncultured Bacteria, Archaea, and viruses through metagenomic analyses.

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          Author and article information

          Journal
          Annu Rev Genet
          Annual review of genetics
          Annual Reviews
          0066-4197
          0066-4197
          2004
          : 38
          Affiliations
          [1 ] Department of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.
          Article
          10.1146/annurev.genet.38.072902.091216
          15568985
          633da0c4-42d7-4ea1-b1cd-00c3940bd273
          History

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