Metagenomic Analysis of the Soil Microbial Community in Marion Island, South Africa

Abstract

Metagenomics is used in microbial ecology to study microbial communities in more detail, including many strains that cannot be cultivated in the laboratory. Bio-informatic analyses make it possible to mine huge metagenomics datasets and discover general patterns that direct microbial ecosystems. The discipline of metagenomics can be defined as the culture-independent genomic analysis of all the microorganisms in a particular environmental niche. High throughput sequencing of an entire array of genomes present in environmental samples enables us to not only enumerate but also classify microorganisms with their phylogenetic relationship among themselves. Soil is probably the most challenging of all natural environments for microbial ecologists with respect to the microbial community size and the diversity of species present. Here we focus on the microbial community in Rhizhosphere soil around Marion Island from different habitats, addressed from a direction and altitudinal perspective. Here we use phylogenetic, operational taxonomic units, and non-metric multidimensional scaling methods for measuring community dissimilarities. - Abstract as displayed in the - Abstract booklet. The presentation on the day may differ from the - Abstract.