Capturing prokaryotic dark matter genomes

• Published in: Research in microbiology Vol. 166; no. 10; pp. 814 - 830
• Main Authors: Gasc, Cyrielle, Ribière, Céline, Parisot, Nicolas, Beugnot, Réjane, Defois, Clémence, Petit-Biderre, Corinne, Boucher, Delphine, Peyretaillade, Eric, Peyret, Pierre
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: France Elsevier Masson SAS 01.12.2015; Elsevier
• Subjects: Archaea - genetics; Archaea - metabolism; Bacteria - genetics; Bacteria - metabolism; Complete genome reconstruction; Dark matter; ecological function; Ecosystem; genome; Genome, Archaeal; Genome, Bacterial; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; Life Sciences; lighting; Metagenomics; Metagenomics - methods; Prokaryotic Cells; Single-Cell Analysis; Single-cell genomics; Metagenomics; Complete genome reconstruction; Dark matter; Single-cell genomics
• ISSN: 0923-2508; 1769-7123; 1769-7123; 0923-2508
• DOI: 10.1016/j.resmic.2015.06.001

Prokaryotes are the most diverse and abundant cellular life forms on Earth. Most of them, identified by indirect molecular approaches, belong to microbial dark matter. The advent of metagenomic and single-cell genomic approaches has highlighted the metabolic capabilities of numerous members of this dark matter through genome reconstruction. Thus, linking functions back to the species has revolutionized our understanding of how ecosystem function is sustained by the microbial world. This review will present discoveries acquired through the illumination of prokaryotic dark matter genomes by these innovative approaches.