Combined imaging and molecular techniques for evaluating microbial function and composition

Abstract

Microorganisms take key positions among ecological communities, supplying biogeochemical activities such as nutrient circulations and environmental pollution decomposition and ensuring ecosystem stability. The usual ways of studying microbial communities use cultivation techniques, which are a hindrance to our grasp of almost all microorganisms unable to grow in the controlled conditions of the laboratory. This review is meant to summarize the current development in imaging and molecular techniques for assessing microbe communities.  The combined use of molecular and imaging techniques for microbial analysis was assessed through a review of literature reporting studies that employed this approach. The review suggested that there is a broad range of techniques that apply both imagery and molecular characteristics for microbial analysis which include fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), metagenomics, metatranscriptomics and metaproteomics. The applied combined imaging and molecular techniques represent an effective way of understanding microbial function and structure. By combining microscopic observation with molecular analysis, researchers can obtain significant information on the structure-function relationships of microbial communities and their interactions with the surroundings. These technologies are of great importance in solving the crucial issues of environmental surveillance, biodegradation, and human health. On the other hand, future technological progress and interdisciplinary cooperation are the key factors that will let us fully unleash the potential of these approaches and transform the findings of basic research into practical applications.