Linking comparative genomics and environmental distribution patterns of microbial populations through metagenomics

Abstract

Combining well-established practices from comparative genomics and the emerging opportunities from assembly-based metagenomics can enhance the utility of increasing number of metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs). Here we used protein clustering to characterize 48 MAGs and 10 cultivars based on their entire gene content, and linked this information to their environmental distribution patterns to better understand the microbial response to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico coastline. Our results suggest that while most oil-associated bacterial populations originated from the ocean, a few actually emerged from the sand rare biosphere. These new findings suggest that there are considerable benefits to employ approaches from comparative genomics to study the whole content of newly identified genomes, and the investigation of emerging patterns in the environmental context can augment the efficacy of assembly-based metagenomic surveys.