In the context of 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing, which approach allows for the identification of microbial taxa without the need for culture methods?

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Seekh · Accepted Answer

The approach that lets you identify microbial taxa without culturing is called culture‑independent 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. It works by extracting all DNA from a sample, amplifying the 16S rRNA gene with universal primers, and then sequencing the PCR products. Because the primers bind to a conserved region of the gene, every bacterial species present in the sample is represented in the sequencing data. Bioinformatics pipelines then match each sequence to a database to assign taxonomic names, revealing the community composition. For example, a stool sample can be processed this way to show that it contains both Bacteroides and Lactobacillus without ever growing the bacteria in a lab.

In the context of 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing, which approach allows for the identification of microbial taxa without the need for culture methods?

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