Stable isotope probing (SIP) provides the opportunity to label decomposer microorganisms that build their biomass on a specific substrate. In combination with high-throughput sequencing, SIP allows for the identification of microbial community members involved in a particular decomposition process. Further information can be gained (in SIP experiments) through gene-targeted metagenomics and metatranscriptomics, opening the possibility to describe the pool of genes catalyzing specific decomposition reactions in situ and to identify the diversity of genes that are expressed. When combined with gene descriptions of fungal and/or bacterial isolates from the same environment, specific biochemical reactions involved in decomposition can be linked to individual microbial taxa. Here, we describe the use of these methods to explore the decomposer community of fungi and bacteria in forest litter and soil.

Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences Praha Czech Republic

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