A network approach to elucidate and prioritize microbial dark matter in microbial communities.

ABSTRACT: Microbes compose most of the biomass on the planet, yet the majority of taxa remain uncharacterized. These unknown microbes, often referred to as "microbial dark matter," represent a major challenge for biology. To understand the ecological contributions of these Unknown taxa, it is essential to first understand the relationship between unknown species, neighboring microbes, and their respective environment. Here, we establish a method to study the ecological significance of "microbial dark matter" by building microbial co-occurrence networks from publicly available 16S rRNA gene sequencing data of four extreme aquatic habitats. For each environment, we constructed networks including and excluding unknown organisms at multiple taxonomic levels and used network centrality measures to quanti

SUBMITTER: Zamkovaya T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7852563 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature