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Metabarcoding and Metagenomics in Soil Ecology Research: Achievements, Challenges, and Prospects

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Abstract

Modern progress in soil biology is associated with the use of new molecular biology methods based on the isolation of total DNA from soil and its further analysis. The two main approaches to the study of soil microbial DNA are metabarcoding, the identification of the community composition via analysis of the sequences of barcode marker genes, and metagenomics, the analysis of the collective genomes of the community. These two methods provide direct access to the enormous genetic diversity of the “uncultivated majority” of soil microorganisms and have become an essential part of many soil biology studies. The review considers the application of these research methods to the study of the ecology and diversity of soil microorganisms. The methodological limitations of molecular genetics methods due to soil specificity as an object of research are discussed. The achievements, challenges, and prospects of metabarcoding and metagenomics in soil ecology research, as well as their combination with other research approaches, are considered.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author thanks Academician V.V. Rozhnov and O.L. Makarova for the opportunity to present this material at the XXV Sukachev Lectures, “Metagenomics and metabarcoding in ecological studies: a methodological breakthrough?!”.

Funding

This study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project no. 19-04-00315.

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  1. Dokuchaev Soil Science Institute, 119017, Moscow, Russia

    M. V. Semenov

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  1. M. V. Semenov
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Correspondence to M. V. Semenov.

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Translated by M. Bibov

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Semenov, M.V. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics in Soil Ecology Research: Achievements, Challenges, and Prospects. Biol Bull Rev 11, 40–53 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079086421010084

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079086421010084

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