TY - JOUR AU - Gomez-Silvan, Cinta AU - Leung, Marcus H. Y. AU - Grue, Katherine A. AU - Kaur, Randeep AU - Tong, Xinzhao AU - Lee, Patrick K. H. AU - Andersen, Gary L. PY - 2018 DA - 2018/04/16 TI - A comparison of methods used to unveil the genetic and metabolic pool in the built environment JO - Microbiome SP - 71 VL - 6 IS - 1 AB - A majority of indoor residential microbes originate from humans, pets, and outdoor air and are not adapted to the built environment (BE). Consequently, a large portion of the microbes identified by DNA-based methods are either dead or metabolically inactive. Although many exceptions have been noted, the ribosomal RNA fraction of the sample is more likely to represent either viable or metabolically active cells. We examined methodological variations in sample processing using a defined, mock BE microbial community to better understand the scope of technique-based vs. biological-based differences in both ribosomal transcript (rRNA) and gene (DNA) sequence community analysis. Based on in vitro tests, a protocol was adopted for the analysis of the genetic and metabolic pool (DNA vs. rRNA) of air and surface microbiomes within a residential setting. SN - 2049-2618 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-018-0453-0 DO - 10.1186/s40168-018-0453-0 ID - Gomez-Silvan2018 ER -