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© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
R. K. Dubey et al., Unravelling the Soil Microbiome, SpringerBriefs in
Environmental Science, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15516-2_5
Chapter 5
Metatranscriptomics and Metaproteomics
for Microbial Communities Profiling
Abstract Metatranscriptomics and metaproteomics are major breakthroughs of the
next-generation sequencing technologies. Metatranscriptomics and metaproteomics
not only provide information about the taxonomic structure of the microorganisms
in soil but also provide information about their functional attributes and diversity.
Gene expression under varying environmental conditions can be analysed by polymerase chain reactions and microarray. Similarly, techniques such as metatranscriptomics can be used for genome-wide gene expression analysis, providing novel
insights about the ecology of the microorganism-mediated processes. In the present
chapter we have highlighted the importance, benefits, challenges, process, and procedures of metatranscriptomics and metaproteomics for analysing microbial communities from diverse environments. Metatranscriptomics and metaproteomics
have carried out significant revolutions in the field of microbial ecology via exploring the plant–microbe and microbe–microbe interactions.
Keywords Functional genomics · Microbial diversity · Metatranscriptome ·
Metaproteome · Microbial interactions
5.1 Metatranscriptomics
Metatranscriptomics concentrates on expressed genes in the entire microbial community and provides a view of the active functions of the community of microorganisms
in a particular environment (Moran 2009). Metatranscriptomics is a very powerful
technique for functional profile analysis and the study of complex microbial physiology and the structure of unknown microbial communities. The metatranscriptome
represents the real-time expression of mRNA in selected samples by analysing the
total captured mRNA (Poretsky et al. 2005). Expression analysis of the (meta)genome
offers complete functional characterization of the microbiome (Carvalhais et al. 2012;
Aguiar-Pulido et al. 2016). Recent developments in the ‘omic’ technologies have
revolutionized the metagenomics field (Bashiardes et al. 2016b).
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
R. K. Dubey et al., Unravelling the Soil Microbiome, SpringerBriefs in
Environmental Science, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15516-2_5
Chapter 5
Metatranscriptomics and Metaproteomics
for Microbial Communities Profiling
Abstract Metatranscriptomics and metaproteomics are major breakthroughs of the
next-generation sequencing technologies. Metatranscriptomics and metaproteomics
not only provide information about the taxonomic structure of the microorganisms
in soil but also provide information about their functional attributes and diversity.
Gene expression under varying environmental conditions can be analysed by polymerase chain reactions and microarray. Similarly, techniques such as metatranscriptomics can be used for genome-wide gene expression analysis, providing novel
insights about the ecology of the microorganism-mediated processes. In the present
chapter we have highlighted the importance, benefits, challenges, process, and procedures of metatranscriptomics and metaproteomics for analysing microbial communities from diverse environments. Metatranscriptomics and metaproteomics
have carried out significant revolutions in the field of microbial ecology via exploring the plant–microbe and microbe–microbe interactions.
Keywords Functional genomics · Microbial diversity · Metatranscriptome ·
Metaproteome · Microbial interactions
5.1 Metatranscriptomics
Metatranscriptomics concentrates on expressed genes in the entire microbial community and provides a view of the active functions of the community of microorganisms
in a particular environment (Moran 2009). Metatranscriptomics is a very powerful
technique for functional profile analysis and the study of complex microbial physiology and the structure of unknown microbial communities. The metatranscriptome
represents the real-time expression of mRNA in selected samples by analysing the
total captured mRNA (Poretsky et al. 2005). Expression analysis of the (meta)genome
offers complete functional characterization of the microbiome (Carvalhais et al. 2012;
Aguiar-Pulido et al. 2016). Recent developments in the ‘omic’ technologies have
revolutionized the metagenomics field (Bashiardes et al. 2016b).