shotgun metagenomics

shotgun metagenomics - Metagenomics is the science that applies high-throughput sequencing technologies and bioinformatics tools to directly obtain the genetic content of a microbial community without the need to isolate and culture the individual microbial species. Metagenomics enables researches not only to study the functional gene composition of microbial communities but also to conduct evolutionary research. Metagenomics has been used to identify novel biocatalysts or enzymes and generate novel hypotheses of microbial function, which is a powerful and practical tool. Compared to 16S/18S/ITS amplicon sequencing, metagenomics can provide more information about functional potential of microbial communities and whole-genome sequences. The rapid development and substantial cost decrease in high-throughput sequencing have dramatically promoted the development of shotgun metagenomic sequencing.