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What is metagenomics?

Metagenomics is the study of the structure and function of sequences isolated and analysed from all the organisms in a bulk sample. Metagenomics is often used to study a specific community of microorganisms, such as those residing on human skin, in the soil or in a water sample.

Metagenomics usually refers to microorganism samples, whereas environmental DNA (eDNA), while using overlapping tools and analysis, refers to other groups of organisms (such as metazoans).

An example - a gut content analysis examining the community structure of bacteria (microbiome) via 16S amplicon sequencing would typically be referred to as a metagenome study. Whereas if the assessment of the gut content was instead exploring what the animal’s diet was (what plants they have eaten, for example), via another amplicon marker (e.g. Cytochrome b) would be an eDNA study.

Amplicon vs shotgun (whole genome) sequencing

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