The New Science of Metagenomics Revealing the Secrets of Our Microbial Planet (2007) / Chapter Skim
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9 Epilogue
9 Epilogue
Pages 134-143
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From page 134... ...
As noted earlier, genomics and the associated high-throughput "omic" technologies targeting gene expression, protein synthesis (and modification) , protein interactions and protein structure are all becoming experimental subdisciplines of a new concept-driven computational science called systems biology.
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From page 135... ...
the organism and species levels at which microbial ecologists have traditionally concentrated their efforts. Although individual microbial cells will always be suitable units of study, the "species," because we have just begun to uncover the enormous genomic diversity within it, may no longer be a reliable or useful ecological unit.
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From page 136... ...
For reasons elaborated in Chapter 5, the metagenomics databases are expected to dwarf genomic databases, no matter the predicted rate of growth of the latter. Although all sequences and trace data (or their future technological equivalents)
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From page 137... ...
Our ability to monitor and predict the emergence of viral diseases will be much enhanced. Cells and Their Genes and Genomes We will have come to an understanding of the diversity of gene content within species, of how many strain-specific genes are involved in strainspecific biology, and of how many are "just passing through." We will have a vast inventory of gene sequences and, through structural genomics, a vast reservoir of genes with reasonably inferred functions even if the organisms of origin and the roles of the genes in their biology remain a mystery.
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From page 138... ...
The question of whether "everything is everywhere" will be subsumed into this gene-level and genome-level analysis, which will be recast in terms of relative rates of divergence and dispersal of genes. Community Structure and Function Model-community projects undertaken in the next 5 years will have been completed and, in addition to a deep understanding of their target systems, will provide templates for other studies, smaller in scope but greater in number and ultimately interconnectable.
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From page 139... ...
The development and implementation of such analytical models will allow computational microbial ecologists to predict responses (at the level of gene frequency, expression, and exchange) to environmental challenges of all sorts.
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From page 140... ...
By 2027, Earth-system processes will have been examined in much greater detail with metagenomics coupled with other synoptic physicochemical and biological measurements. Microbial-community genomics will provide information important for understanding energy fluxes and biogeochemical mechanisms in the deep subsurface, modeling biologically mediated rock weathering and surface chemistry, and defining the key genetic and biogeochemical drivers of processes that influence greenhouse-gas production and consumption.
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From page 141... ...
Metagenomics studies of gut populations in poultry, pigs, and other food animals will increase our knowledge of gut-microbe interactions, which will help to formulate more effective probiotic mixtures in the future. We expect a comparable impact on plant-based agriculture.
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From page 142... ...
Corn serves as the major feedstock for ethanol production, and biofuel-producing companies are using specialist microbes to convert cornstarch to ethanol, a highoctane, environmentally friendly biofuel. Cellulosic ethanol -- made from such agricultural wastes as corn fiber, corn stalks, and wheat straw and other biomass, such as switchgrass and miscanthus -- uses as substrates products that are not usable by humans as food.
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From page 143... ...
This will permit precise, rapid, and sensitive monitoring of air, water, and food supplies for potential biothreat agents with novel biosensors. We will be better able to identify the presence of a natural or engineered biothreat agent against a large natural microbial background, and we will be able to predict virulence properties and sensitivity to antiviral or antimicrobial drugs.
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