Metagenomic environmental assessment of aquatic ecosystems

Abstract

Environmental assessment may be dramatically improved using a metagenomics approach directed at prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbes. These organisms respond rapidly to environmental change and are sensitive bioindicators, but fundamental knowledge of microbial biogeography is essential for valid environmental inferences to be made. Real-time quantitative PCR was used to determine if representative prokaryotic and eukaryotic taxa are widely dispersed across freshwater sites at narrow scales (regional, within a single state) to broad scales (comparisons among North American and Asian sites). The results demonstrate wide distribution of some taxa, but their abundance varies at individual sites presumably owing to local environmental conditions. Thus, direct assessments of abundance of targeted microbial consortia can be a tool for environmental monitoring and assessment. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009.