Metabarcoding and Metagenomics in Health and Environment
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Genetics and Genomics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2021) | Viewed by 6369
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
It has now been 50 years since the principle of targeted and repeated molecular copying of DNA in a test tube was first demonstrated (Kleppe et al. (1971) J Mol Biol 56(2):341-361), and the method was subsequently made practical in use by the thermostable DNA polymerases and named PCR by the Nobel laureate Kary Mullis. Around 15 years ago, the next-generation sequencing (NGS) machines entered the market. This was another technical revolution making the whole life-science environment see possibilities that were previously out of reach for most laboratories. Combining the massive parallel sequencing with the development of tagging different samples with different codes (Binladen et al. (2007) PLoS ONE 2(2):e197) it became possible to pool many samples in one sequencing run, and unforeseen powers came to the fingertips of life-science researchers. These methods are now in use for investigations in countless fields: identifying the complete microbiomes in humans (and many other species) and linking the microbiomes to different health and unhealth parameters; finding invasive species; pointing out that there are high numbers of unknown bacteria in many types of environments and devising methods to sequence their genomes without needing the microorganisms to be isolated and cultured; investigating which food items wild animals eat; showing that diverse species of flies are visiting different flowers; investigating the biodiversity in soil, sediments, or even in rocks far below the surface of the Earth; providing alternative methods for monitoring fish populations and migrations; and many other things. Terms like metagenomics, metabarcoding, eDNA, etc. are used for these approaches. In this Special Issue of the International Journal Molecular Sciences, we want to celebrate the advances these approaches have made in our knowledge in many areas, as well as the hopes and promises that they give for the future. We welcome contributions covering a wide range of fields, from basal research to applied research, from species-specific investigations (including humans) to environmental research and monitoring, from the microbiome’s influence on health of the host to stock assessment and a more sustainable exploitation of the Earth’s resources.
Prof. Dr. Svein-Ole Mikalsen
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- eDNA
- metagenomics
- metabarcoding
- microbiomes
- environment
- health
- environmental surveillance
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