title: Deeply sequenced metagenome and metatranscriptome of a biogas-producing microbial community from an agricultural production-scale biogas plant.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The production of biogas takes place under anaerobic conditions and involves microbial decomposition of organic matter. Most of the participating microbes are still unknown and non-cultivable. Accordingly, shotgun metagenome sequencing currently is the method of choice to obtain insights into community composition and the genetic repertoire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Here, we report on the deeply sequenced metagenome and metatranscriptome of a complex biogas-producing microbial community from an agricultural production-scale biogas plant. We assembled the metagenome and, as an example application, show that we reconstructed most genes involved in the methane metabolism, a key pathway involving methanogenesis performed by methanogenic Archaea. This result indicates that there is sufficient sequencing coverage for most downstream analyses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Sequenced at least one order of magnitude deeper than previous studies, our metagenome data will enable new insights into community composition and the genetic potential of important community members. Moreover, mapping of transcripts to reconstructed genome sequences will enable the identification of active metabolic pathways in target organisms.
authors.affiliation: Center for Biotechnology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, 33615 Germany ; Faculty of Technology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, 33615 Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bremges
authors.affiliation: Center for Biotechnology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, 33615 Germany.
authors.forename: Irena
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Maus
authors.affiliation: Center for Biotechnology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, 33615 Germany ; Faculty of Technology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, 33615 Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Belmann
authors.affiliation: Center for Biotechnology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, 33615 Germany.
authors.forename: Felix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Eikmeyer
authors.affiliation: Center for Biotechnology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, 33615 Germany.
authors.forename: Anika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Winkler
authors.affiliation: Center for Biotechnology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, 33615 Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Albersmeier
authors.affiliation: Center for Biotechnology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, 33615 Germany.
authors.forename: Alfred
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pühler
authors.affiliation: Center for Biotechnology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, 33615 Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schlüter
authors.affiliation: Center for Biotechnology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, 33615 Germany ; Faculty of Technology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, 33615 Germany.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sczyrba
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D001105:Archaea / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D056804:Biofuels; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D054892:Metagenome; D059467:Transcriptome
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels
keywords: Anaerobic digestion; Assembly; Biogas; Metagenomics; Metatranscriptomics; Methanogenesis; Sequencing; Wet fermentation