Abstract
The emergence of high-throughput sequencing technologies has deepened our understanding of complex microbial communities and greatly facilitated the study of as-yet uncultured microbes and viruses. Studies of complex microbial communities require high-quality data to generate valid results. Here, we detail current methods of microbial and viral community sample acquisition, DNA extraction, sample preparation, and sequencing on Illumina high-throughput platforms. While using appropriate analytical tools is important, it must not overshadow the need for establishing a proper experimental design and obtaining sufficient numbers of samples for statistical purposes. Researchers must also take care to sample biologically relevant sites and control for potential confounding factors (e.g., contamination).
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Torres, P.J., Kelley, S.T. (2018). Sampling, Extraction, and High-Throughput Sequencing Methods for Environmental Microbial and Viral Communities. In: Head, S., Ordoukhanian, P., Salomon, D. (eds) Next Generation Sequencing. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1712. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7514-3_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7514-3_11
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