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The past, present and future of microbiome analyses

Nature Protocols volume 11, pages 2049–2053 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

Over the last decade, technical advances in nucleic acid sequencing and mass spectrometry have enabled faster and more informative metagenomic, metatranscriptomic, metaproteomic and metabolomic measurements. Here we review key improvements in multi-omic environmental and human microbiome analyses, and discuss developments required to address current measurement shortcomings.

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Figure 1: Advances in sequencing technologies over the last decade.
Figure 2: The evolution of ion-trap-based MS instruments.
Figure 3

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Acknowledgements

We thank N. Johnson and C. Brislawn for their assistance in preparing the figures. This research was supported by the Pan-omics Program that is funded by the US Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research (Genomic Science Program) and the Microbiomes in Transition (MinT) Laboratory Directed Research and Development Initiative at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a multi-program national laboratory operated by Battelle for the Department of Energy under contract DE-AC06-76RL01830.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington, USA

    Richard Allen White III, Stephen J Callister, Ronald J Moore, Erin S Baker & Janet K Jansson

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  1. Richard Allen White III
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  2. Stephen J Callister
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  3. Ronald J Moore
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  4. Erin S Baker
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R.A.W., S.J.C., R.J.M., E.S.B. and J.K.J. all contributed to this work and commented on the manuscript at all stages.

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Correspondence to Erin S Baker or Janet K Jansson.

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White, R., Callister, S., Moore, R. et al. The past, present and future of microbiome analyses. Nat Protoc 11, 2049–2053 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2016.148

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