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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Apr 1.
Published in final edited form as: Trends Ecol Evol. 2012 Jan 11;27(4):233–243. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2011.11.010

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Typical standardized workflow (from environment to sequences) for high-throughput marker gene studies. Soils and sediments are typically frozen upon collection (−80°C to preserve RNA) and brought back to the lab for bulk extraction of environmental DNA. Marker genes (e.g. rRNA) are amplified from genomic extracts using barcoded, conserved primer pairs. Following high-throughput sequencing (typically conducted on 454 or Illumina platforms), datasets are processed and clustered into Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) under a range of pairwise identity cutoffs. OTUs are subsequently used to conduct alpha and beta diversity analyses, summarize community taxonomy, and interpret assemblages in a phylogenetic context. (Depiction of community analysis modified from Parks et al. [56])