Metagenomics: Retrospect and Prospects in High Throughput Age

Table 1

Biological functions derived from the metagenomes from diverse habitats.

Type of activity exhibited by the metagenomic clone	Library type	Number of clones screened/size of DNA used for library construction	Sampling site	Screening method	Reference
Lipase	Plasmid and fosmid	29.3 Gb of cloned soil DNA	German forest soil (horizon A)	Phenotypic detection; (tributyrin hydrolysis)	[50]
	Fosmid	200,000 clones	Qiongdongnan basin, South China Sea (water depth 778.5 m)	Phenotypic screening; (tributyrin hydrolysis)	[51]
	Fosmid	15,000 clones	Peat-swamp forest soil from Narathiwat Province, Thailand	Phenotypic detection; (tributyrin hydrolysis)	[52]
Esterase	Plasmid	20,000 clones	High Andean forest soil	Phenotypic detection; (tributyrin hydrolysis)	[53]
	Fosmid	20000	Deep-sea sediment	Phenotypic detection; (tributyrin hydrolysis)	[54]
	Fosmid	142,900	Red pepper plant rhizosphere and strawberry plant rhizosphere	Phenotypic detection; (tributyrin hydrolysis)	[55]
Protease	Fosmid	17000	Surface sand from the Gobi and Death Valley deserts	Phenotypic detection; (skimmed milk)	[74]
	Plasmid	70,000	Goat skin surface	Phenotypic detection (skimmed milk)	[75]
Laccase	Plasmid	8000	Mangrove soil	Phenotypic detection; (hydrolysis of guaiacol)	[76]
	Phagemid	Not mentioned	Bovine rumen microflora	Phenotypic detection; (oxidation of syringaldazine)	[77]
Agarase	Cosmids	1,532	Soil from uncultivated field (Germany)	Phenotypical detection; (hydrolysis of low melting point agarose)	[78]
Amidase	Plasmids	193,000	Soil and enrichment cultures from marine sediment, goose pond, lakeshore, and an agricultural field (Netherlands)	Heterologous complementation	[79]
Alcohol oxidoreductase	Plasmids	900,000 and 400,000	Soil and enrichment cultures from a sugar beet field (Germany),; river sediment (Germany),; sediments from Solar Lake (Egypt), and sediment from the Gulf of Eilat (Israel)	Phenotypic detection; (NAD(P)H-dependent reduction of carbonyls or by measuring the NAD(P)-dependent oxidation of alcohols)	[80]
Antibiotics and bioactive compounds with anti-infective properties	Fosmid	80,500 clones from Yuseong and 33,200 clones from Jindong Valley forest soil	Forest soil from Jindong Valley	Phenotypic detection	[81]
	Cosmids	Not mentioned	Bromeliad tank water (Costa Rica)	Phenotypical detection	[82]
	BAC	24,546	Soil	Phenotypic detection	[83]
DNA polymerase 1	Plasmid	21,198 Sanger; sequence reads were analyzed	Octopus hot spring (93°C) in Yellowstone National Park	Activity-based screening; (primer extension assay)	[84]
Na^+/H^+ antiporters	Plasmid	8,000	Chaerhan Salt Lake, China	Heterologous complementation	[85]
Cellulases and xylanases	Fosmid library	Not mentioned	Hindgut of wood-feeding termite	AZCL-HE cellulose and AZCL-Xylan based assay	[86]
Phytases	Fosmid library	14,440	Soil	Functional screening; (by supplying only the phytate as the sole P source in the growth medium and selecting only clones with strong growth rate)	[87]