Strengths and Limitations of 16S rRNA Gene Amplicon Sequencing in Revealing Temporal Microbial Community Dynamics

This study explored the short-term planktonic microbial community structure and resilience in Lake Lanier (GA, USA) while simultaneously evaluating the technical aspects of identifying taxa via 16S rRNA gene amplicon and metagenomic sequence data. 16S rRNA gene amplicons generated from four temporally discrete samples were sequenced with 454 GS-FLX-Ti yielding ∼40,000 rRNA gene sequences from each sample and representing ∼300 observed OTUs. Replicates obtained from the same biological sample clustered together but several biases were observed, linked to either the PCR or sequencing-preparation steps. In comparisons with companion whole-community shotgun metagenome datasets, the estimated number of OTUs at each…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Award: 1241046
• UD
  U.S. Department of Energy

  Award: DE-SC0006662
• EU
  Emory University