Metagenomics vs. Metatranscriptomics — What's the Difference?

Metagenomics is the study of genetic material recovered directly from environmental samples. The broad field may also be referred to as environmental genomics, ecogenomics or community genomics.

Metatranscriptomics is the science that studies gene expression of microbes within natural environments, i.e., the metatranscriptome. It also allows to obtain whole gene expression profiling of complex microbial communities.While metagenomics focuses on studying the genomic content and on identifying which microbes are present within a community, metatranscriptomics can be used to study the diversity of the active genes within such community, to quantify their expression levels and to monitor how these levels change in different conditions (e.g., physiological vs.

(used with a sing. verb) The study of the structure and function of nucleotide sequences isolated directly from an environmental sample, especially of a community of microorganisms.

A branch of transcriptomics that studies, and correlates, the transcriptomes of a group of interacting organisms or species

(genetics) The study of genomes recovered from environmental samples; especially the differentiation of genomes from multiple organisms or individuals, either in a symbiotic relationship, or at a crime scene.