Environmental Transcriptomics

Depending on surrounding conditions - e.g. nutrient availability, stress factors or physical parameters - the gene expression of organisms can vary widely. The proxy for gene activity is the mRNA. The aim of transcriptomics is to capture this information. While transcriptomics deals with the gene expression of single species, environmental transcriptomics covers the gene activity profile of the whole community. Its applications are manifold: In combination with contextual data, gene expression profiling helps to unravel gene functions. It teaches us, which metabolic pathways are in use under the respective conditions and how the organisms interact with the environment. Hence, it can be applied for environmental monitoring and for the identification of key genes. On the other hand, transcriptomics also play a role in clinical diagnosis and in screening for drug targets or for genes, enzymes and metabolites relevant for biotechnology.