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Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Nanopore DNA Sequencing for Metagenomic Soil Analysis
Published on: December 14, 2017
The metagenomics of soil
1Abteilung Angewandte Mikrobiologie, Institut für Mikrobiologie und Genetik der Georg-August-Universität, Grisebachstrasse 8, 37077 Göttingen, Germany. rdaniel@gwdg.de
Abstract:
Phylogenetic surveys of soil ecosystems have shown that the number of prokaryotic species found in a single sample exceeds that of known cultured prokaryotes. Soil metagenomics, which comprises isolation of soil DNA and the production and screening of clone libraries, can provide a cultivation-independent assessment of the largely untapped genetic reservoir of soil microbial communities. This approach has already led to the identification of novel biomolecules. However, owing to the complexity and heterogeneity of the biotic and abiotic components of soil ecosystems, the construction and screening of soil-based libraries is difficult and challenging. This review describes how to construct complex libraries from soil samples, and how to use these libraries to unravel functions of soil microbial communities.
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