Support a Workshop on Marine Microbial Genomics

很明显，高通量测序的技术力量已经彻底改变了我们在基因组水平上检查生物体生化复杂性的能力。最能说明这一点的是，人类基因组完全测序的显著成就比预计提前了两年。目前正在进行的项目是对小鼠、玉米、水稻和许多其他生物医学上重要的微生物基因组进行全面测序。此外，在过去的五年中，我们已经看到了超过25个微生物基因组的完整序列，其中超过95个正在进行中。这些生物大多具有重要的生物医学意义。在过去的15年里，我们开始对自由生活细菌的多样性、分布和进化有了更多的了解。环境微生物学和它的姊妹学科一样，极大地受益于分子生物学技术的快速发展。从一系列环境中进行的大量微生物系统发育研究表明，只有不到1%的细菌被成功培养。虽然我们现在对这些独特的微生物群落的个体构成有所了解，但我们对它们正在做什么或能够做什么知之甚少。近年来，高通量基因组测序技术和微阵列表达筛选的发展为我们提供了发现细菌代谢能力的机会，使我们能够更好地了解细菌在环境约束下如何相互作用。海洋环境基因组学领域尚处于起步阶段，但有潜力释放出前所未有的信息浪潮，这对了解海洋环境中的微生物系统至关重要。由于缺乏当前技术的可及性，这一领域的进展目前受到抑制。所需的技术是极其昂贵的，当然超出了个别调查员的范围。在这里，科学家们将召集一个由海洋微生物领域的研究人员组成的任务小组，讨论微生物基因组学应该采取的方向。将工业组成部分纳入该讲习班是至关重要的，希望能够建立一种伙伴关系，使人们能够继续获得发展中的技术。

It is clear that the technological power of high throughput sequencing has revolutionized our capabilities to examine the biochemical intricacies of organisms at the genomic level. This is best represented by the remarkable achievement of fully sequencing the human genome two years earlier than projected. Projects are now underway to fully sequence the mouse, maize, rice and numerous other biomedically important microbial genomes. In addition, during the last five years we have seen over 25 microbial genomes fully sequences with over 95 currently underway. Most of these organisms are of biomedical importance.Over the past 15 years we have begun to understand more about the diversity, distribution, and evolution of free-living bacteria. Environmental microbiology, like its sister fields, has greatly benefited from the rapid development in molecular biological technology. Numerous microbial phylogenetic studies from a range of environments have revealed that less that 1% of the bacteria have been successfully cultivated. While we now know something about what individuals make up these unique microbial communities, we have very little information about what they are doing or are capable of doing. The recent development of high throughput genomic sequencing technology and microarray expression screening provides us with the opportunity to discover the metabolic capacity of bacteria that have eluded cultivation and to better understand how bacteria interact under the constraints of their environment. The field of marine environmental genomics is in its infancy but has the potential to unleash an unprecedented wave of information critical to understanding microbial systems in the marine environment. Advancements in this area are currently suppressed due to the lack of accessibility to the current technology. The technology required is extremely costly and is certainly out of the range of the individual investigator. Here the scientists will convene a task group of investigators from the marine microbial arena to discuss the direction the community should take in microbial genomics. Inclusion of industrial components to this workshop is essential in hopes that a partnership could be forged that would provide continued access to the developing technology.