Constructing and Analyzing Metabolic Flux Models of Microbial Communities

Abstract

Metagenomic analysis is a foundational tool for exploring microbial communities within free-living and host-associated environments. Metagenomics links together amplicon analysis and metatranscriptomics, as well as being considered a stand-alone tool, essential for any microbiologist’s toolbox. Within petroleum hydrocarbon environments, metagenomics is capable of laying the foundational understanding of the microenvironments that comprise microbial communities. In this work, we detail a systematic method for processing and analyzing metagenomic libraries for hydrocarbon-associated microbial communities utilizing Illumina’s next-generation sequencing platforms