FIG 6.

Future directions in microbiological research on inflammatory mucosal disease. CRS research thus far remains limited to gene-targeted assessments of community membership and structure, including bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequencing, fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region sequencing, and known viral genetic elements. Approaches that sequence all DNA (metagenomics) or all transcribed RNA (metatranscriptomics) or that identify proteins (metaproteomics) or metabolites (metabolomics) will provide greater insights into the true diversity and structure, as well as the full genetic potential and in situ activity, of the mucosa-associated microbiota.