Review article - Peer-reviewed, 2008
The metagenomics of disease-suppressive soils - experiences from the METACONTROL project
van Elsas, Jan Dirk; Costal, Rodrigo; Jansson, Janet; Sjoling, Sara; Bailey, Mark; Nalin, Renaud; Vogel, Timothy M.; van Overbeek, LeoAbstract
Soil teems with microbial genetic information that can be exploited for biotechnological innovation. Because only a fraction of the soil microbiota is cultivable, our ability to unlock this genetic complement has been hampered. Recently developed molecular tools, which make it possible to utilize genomic DNA from soil, can bypass cultivation and provide information on the collective soil metagenome with the aim to explore genes that encode functions of key interest to biotechnology. The metagenome of disease-suppressive soils is of particular interest given the expected prevalence of antibiotic biosynthetic clusters. However, owing to the complexity of soil microbial communities, deciphering this key genetic information is challenging. Here, we examine crucial issues and challenges that so far have hindered the metagenomic exploration of soil by drawing on experience from a trans-European project on disease-suppressive soils denoted METACONTROL.Published in
Trends in Biotechnology2008, volume: 26, number: 11, pages: 591-601
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE LONDON
Authors' information
van Elsas, Jan Dirk
University of Groningen
Costa, Rodrigo
University of Groningen
Jansson, Janet
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Microbiology
Jansson, Janet
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab)
Sjöling, Sara
Södertörn University
Bailey, Mark J.
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH)
Nalin, Renaud
LibraGen SA
Vogel, Timothy M.
University of Lyon
UKÄ Subject classification
Agricultural Science
Publication Identifiers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2008.07.004
URI (permanent link to this page)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/19804