Contribution of single-cell omics to microbial ecology

Micro-organisms play key roles in various ecosystems, but many of their functions and interactions remain undefined. To investigate the ecological relevance of microbial communities, new molecular tools are being developed. Among them, single-cell omics assessing genetic diversity at the population and community levels and linking each individual cell to its functions is gaining interest in microbial ecology. By giving access to a wider range of ecological scales (from individual to community) than culture-based approaches and meta-omics, single-cell omics can contribute not only to micro-organisms' genomic and functional identification but also to the testing of concepts in ecology. Here, we discuss the contribution of single-cell omics to possible breakthroughs in concepts and knowledge on microbial ecosystems and ecoevolutionary processes.