Molecular techniques and their limitations shape our view of the holobiont

Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Cooke, Ira;Mead, Oliver;Whalen, Casey;Boote, Chloe;Moya, Aurelie;Ying, Hua;Robbins, Steven;Strugnell, Jan M.;Darling, Aaron;Miller, David;Voolstra, Christian;Adamska, Maya
Ira CookeJan StrugnellDavid Miller
Abstract

It is now recognised that the biology of almost any organism cannot be fully understood without recognising theexistence and potential functional importance of associated microbes. Arguably, the emergence of this holisticviewpoint may never have occurred without the development of a crucial molecular technique, 16S rDNAamplicon sequencing, which allowed microbial communities to be easily profiled across a broad range of con-texts. A diverse array of molecular techniques are now used to profile microbial communities, infer their evo-lutionary histories, visualise them in host tissues, and measure their molecular activity. In this review, we ex-amine each of these categories of measurement and inference with a focus on the questions they make tractable,and the degree to which their capabilities and limitations shape our view of the holobiont.

Journal

Zoology

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137

ISBN/ISSN

1873-2720

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Pages Count

8

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Publisher

Elsevier

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EISSN

N/A

DOI

10.1016/j.zool.2019.125695