Single-Cell Genomics and Metagenomics for Microbial Diversity Analysis

Abstract

Soil metagenomic analysis was previously limited by technological restrictions and the few reference genomes. The advent of next-generation ‘omics’ technologies has provided high-throughput methods for analysing community structure and reconstructing soil metagenomes. High-throughput sequencing technology and single-cell genomics have revolutionized metagenomic analysis by enabling large-scale sequencing at reduced sequencing costs with less time required. In the present chapter we discuss various technological advances in metagenomics, their processes and the methods of data analysis, and metagenomic success stories under various environments that can be applied for studying the functional and structural diversity of soil microorganisms.