Abstract
It is known that only 0.1 - 10% of all microorganisms observed in nature can be cultured under conventional laboratory conditions. This leaves researchers unable to study more than 99% of microorganisms in some environments - microorganisms that sometimes have unique and potentially very useful abilities such as waste degradation or synthesis of compounds that could find use as drugs or antibiotics. Metagenomics, the genomic reconstruction of unculturable microorganisms, is a powerful new tool for accessing the untapped resources of biodiversity in environmental samples. The ability to extract and purify high MW DNA from difficult samples such as waste effluents and soil, attempts to provide a breakthrough in representative metagenomic library construction for metagenomics that may enable the discovery of many future drugs and antibiotics.
Key words: Metagenomics, microorganisms, waste effluents and soil, drugs and antibiotics.
