title: Sizing up metatranscriptomics.
abstract: A typical marine bacterial cell in coastal seawater contains only ∼200 molecules of mRNA, each of which lasts only a few minutes before being degraded. Such a surprisingly small and dynamic cellular mRNA reservoir has important implications for understanding the bacterium's responses to environmental signals, as well as for our ability to measure those responses. In this perspective, we review the available data on transcript dynamics in environmental bacteria, and then consider the consequences of a small and transient mRNA inventory for functional metagenomic studies of microbial communities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Marine Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-3636, USA. mmoran@uga.edu
authors.forename: Mary Ann
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Moran
authors.forename: Brandon
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Satinsky
authors.forename: Scott M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Gifford
authors.forename: Haiwei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rivers
authors.forename: Leong-Keat
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Bryndan P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Durham
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Vanessa A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Varaljay
authors.forename: Christa B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Patricia L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Yager
authors.forename: Brian M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Hopkinson
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D006207:Half-Life; D056186:Metagenomics; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology*; D059467:Transcriptome; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D012329:RNA, Bacterial; D012333:RNA, Messenger