Omics-based microbiome analysis in microbial ecology: from sequences to information

Microbial ecology is the study of microorganisms present in nature. It particularly focuses on microbial interactions with any biota and with surrounding environments. Microbial ecology is entering its golden age with innovative multi-omics methods triggered by next-generation sequencing technologies. However, the extraction of ecologically relevant information from ever-increasing omics data remains one of the most challenging tasks in microbial ecology. This special issue includes 11 review articles that provide an overview of the state of the art of omics-based approaches in the field of microbial ecology, with particular emphasis on the interpretation of omics data, environmental pollution tracking, interactions in microbiomes, and viral ecology.

Automated summary

Microbial ecology is the study of microorganisms and their interactions with biota and environments in nature. The field is currently experiencing a golden age with innovative multi-omics methods, but extracting ecologically relevant information from omics data remains a challenging task. This special issue provides an overview of omics-based approaches in microbial ecology, focusing on data interpretation, environmental pollution tracking, microbiome interactions, and viral ecology.