Biodiv Sci ›› 2019, Vol. 27 ›› Issue (5): 534-542.  DOI: 10.17520/biods.2018201

• Reviews • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Analysis of prospective microbiology research using third-generation sequencing technology

Xu Yakun1,2,Ma Yue1,2,Hu Xiaoxi1,Wang Jun1,*()   

  1. 1 Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101
    2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049
  • Received:2018-07-30 Accepted:2018-12-25 Online:2019-05-20 Published:2019-05-20
  • Contact: Wang Jun

Abstract:

Microbes are ubiquitous in human life. In years past, the study of microbes has only focused on single-bacteria cultures and qualitative analyses. The development of sequencing technology has greatly enhanced progress in microbiology research and more and more evidence shows that human symbiotic microbes, especially intestinal microbes, are closely related to human health. Second-generation sequencing technology is currently mainstream in microbiology research because of its high throughput, high accuracy and low cost. However, with the deepening complexity of research, the disadvantages of second-generation technology, i.e. short read length (< 450 bp), lead to subsequent challenges in data analysis and genome assembly, and limit the applicability to future research. In this context, the third-generation sequencing technology comes into being. The third-generation of sequencing (TGS) technology is also called single molecule sequencing. It directly carries out real-time sequencing of single DNA molecules without PCR amplifications. TGS technology significantly increases read length up to 2-10 kb or even 2.2 Mb. Because of its advantages of long read and no preference for GC, TGS provides a new method for full-length gene sequencing that facilitates the assembly of complete and reliable genome maps in microbes and that further reveals the diversity of microbial structures and functions. This review summarizes the technical characteristics and principles of TGS, and then mainly analyzes its applications and progress in 16S/18S rRNA gene sequencing, complete bacterial genome mapping and metagenomics research.

Key words: microbes, third-generation sequencing, 16S/18S rRNA, metagenomics