Evaluating rRNA as an indicator of microbial activity in environmental communities: limitations and uses
Evaluating rRNA as an indicator of microbial activity in environmental communities: limitations and uses
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DOI：
10.1038/ismej.2013.102
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发表时间：
2013-11-01
期刊：
影响因子：
11
通讯作者：
Firestone, Mary K.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Blazewicz, Steven J.;Barnard, Romain L.;Firestone, Mary K.
微生物存在于一系列代谢状态（例如，休眠，活跃和生长）和核糖体RNA（rRNA）的分析经常被用来识别环境样品中微生物的“活跃”部分。虽然rRNA分析不再常用于量化混合群落中种群的增长率，但由于rRNA浓度不与整个类群的增长率呈线性关系，rRNA分析仍然经常用于识别目前在混合群落中活跃的种群的更保守的目标。然而，有证据表明，rRNA作为微生物群落代谢状态的可靠指标的一般用途具有严重的局限性。这份报告强调了rRNA、生长和活性之间复杂且往往相互矛盾的关系。混淆rRNA模式的潜在机制进行了讨论，包括生活史，生活策略和非生长活动的差异。rRNA数据可用于微生物群落的有用表征的方法，沿着在未来的研究中要解决的问题。
Microbes exist in a range of metabolic states (for example, dormant, active and growing) and analysis of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) is frequently employed to identify the 'active' fraction of microbes in environmental samples. While rRNA analyses are no longer commonly used to quantify a population's growth rate in mixed communities, due to rRNA concentration not scaling linearly with growth rate uniformly across taxa, rRNA analyses are still frequently used toward the more conservative goal of identifying populations that are currently active in a mixed community. Yet, evidence indicates that the general use of rRNA as a reliable indicator of metabolic state in microbial assemblages has serious limitations. This report highlights the complex and often contradictory relationships between rRNA, growth and activity. Potential mechanisms for confounding rRNA patterns are discussed, including differences in life histories, life strategies and non-growth activities. Ways in which rRNA data can be used for useful characterization of microbial assemblages are presented, along with questions to be addressed in future studies.