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Metagenomics - An advanced approach for non-cultivable
micro-organisms
Md. Zeyaullah1*, Majid R. Kamli2,
Badrul Islam1, Mohammed Atif1, Faheem
A Benkhayal1, M. Nehal3, M. A. Rizvi4
and Arif Ali2
1Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Omar Al-Mukhtar
University, Al-Baida, Libya.
2Department
of Biotechnology, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi- 110025,
India.
3Ageing
Research Laboratory, University Department of Zoology, L.
N. Mithila University, Kameshwara Nagar, Darbhanga- 846 008,
Bihar, India.
4Department
of laboratory Medicine, Higher Institute of Medical
Technology, Derna, Libya
*Corresponding author. E. mail:
zeya786@gmail.com.
Accepted
14 April, 2009. |
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It is known
that only 0.1 - 10% of all microorganisms observed in nature
can be cultured under conventional laboratory conditions.
This leaves researchers unable to study more than 99% of
microorganisms in some environments - microorganisms that
sometimes have unique and potentially very useful abilities
such as waste degradation or synthesis of compounds that
could find use as drugs or antibiotics. Metagenomics, the
genomic reconstruction of unculturable microorganisms, is a
powerful new tool for accessing the untapped resources of
biodiversity in environmental samples. The ability to
extract and purify high MW DNA from difficult samples such
as waste effluents and soil, attempts to provide a
breakthrough in representative metagenomic library
construction for metagenomics that may enable the discovery
of many future drugs and antibiotics.
Key
words:
Metagenomics, microorganisms, waste effluents and soil,
drugs and antibiotics. |
