‘Omics workflow to link terrestrial and aquatic communities and their function

The knowledge on microbial communities and understanding of processes they drive has considerably increased due to recent developments in microbial methods. Analysis of environmental DNA (eDNA) has become extremely popular in analyzing biodiversity in different environments and how the biodiversity is affected by different disturbances or soil management factors. However, eDNA approaches are based on amplification on conserved target genes and have therefore some major drawbacks: only the organisms that primers are targeted for can be analyzed and therefore only the organisms that are being search for can be analyzed. Therefore, in TERAQ-OMICS we will use the metagenomic and metatranscriptomic approach to overcome this problem. As all DNA in a sample is sequenced and analyzed in metagenomics, all present taxa can be analyzed. This includes bacteria, archaea, fungi, protists, plants, and viruses, to name some. In metatranscriptomics, the total RNA transcribed by the active species in a sample, is being sequenced and analyzed.