Nucleic-Acid-based Characterization of Community Structure and Function
James Prosser, Janet K. Jansson and Wen-Tso Liu
from: Environmental Molecular Microbiology (Edited by: Wen-Tso Liu and Janet K. Jansson). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2010)
Abstract
Nucleic acid-based techniques were first used to characterise natural microbial communities in the early 1990s and are now used routinely. The ability to characterise communities without the requirement for cultivation has led to enormous advances in our ability to describe microbial communities and to determine the factors that influence their structure. New generations of molecular techniques provide even greater descriptive power and can be used to assess the physiological potential and ecosystem function of communities. They also enable microbial ecologists to address fundamental questions in population and community ecology, including investigation of the links between diversity and function. This chapter describes methods currently used to analyse nucleic acids extracted from environmental samples, and shows how they can be used to characterise communities. It also looks ahead to exciting new technologies that are likely to increase greatly our ability to explore and understand the complex functions and interactions of microbial communities in natural environments read more ...
