Canadian MetaMicroBiome Initiative samples from

Microbial communities harbor immense genetic diversity with enormous promise for applications in bioproduct synthesis and green chemistry. Metagenomic libraries provide a window into this largely untapped reservoir of nucleic acid diversity and individual libraries have been generated from a variety of terrestrial and aquatic environments. A limitation is that metagenomic libraries are typically project-specific and maintained in isolation. In an effort to enable the sharing of genetic material from environmental samples for the benefit of the scientific community, we are establishing the Canadian MetaMicroBiome Library. This repository will house composite soil samples that are characterized by extensive 16S rRNA gene and whole-genome sequencing, generating taxonomic profiles and metabolic pathway reconstructions for each sample. The sequence data will be submitted to existing public databases and linked with detailed physical, chemical and geographic characterization of the samples according to established metagenomic standards. Sample DNA will be used to construct high quality libraries in cosmid vectors, allowing for phenotypic screening in a broad range of microbial surrogate hosts. Phenotypic screening of metagenomic libraries provides access to truly novel functions that would otherwise be missed by sequence-based surveys of bulk community DNA or metagenomic libraries. MetaMicroBiome is being initiated with soil samples collected from across Canada, and initial libraries are being screened for novel glycoside hydrolase activities in multiple surrogate hosts. Once MetaMicroBiome is established, contributions of samples from other environments will be accepted for inclusion. The resulting resource will provide the international scientific community with access to a common collection of thoroughly characterized community-contributed genetic material in clone library format for custom phenotypic screens.