In the investigation of microbial community dynamics, what organism is targetted by the use of 16S diversity sequencing?

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Question restatement: In the investigation of microbial community dynamics, what organism is targetted by the use of 16S diversity sequencing? Options: Parasites, Bacteria, Protists, Fungi, Viruses.

Option 1: Parasites. While parasites can be microbial, 16S rRNA gene sequencing is not used to target parasites specifically. Parasites include a broad range of organisms, some of which may be eukaryotes or multicellular; 16S sequencing targets prokaryotic ribosomal RNA genes, so this option misaligns with the method's focus.

Option 2: Bacteria. The 16S rRNA gene is a highly conserved component of the small subunit of prokaryotic ribosomes and is the classic marker used to profile bacterial community composition and diversity. This sequencing approach amplifies and analyzes bacterial 16S sequences to distinguish different bacterial taxa in a sample.

Option 3: Protists. Protists are eukaryotic microorganisms. Because 16S rRNA genes are characteristic of prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea), protists are not targeted by standard 16S diversity sequencing. Metabarcoding of protists typically uses other markers like 18S rRNA or certain plastid genes.

Option 4: Fungi. Fungi are eukaryotes and possess rRNA genes such as 18S or ITS regions commonly used for fungal community profiling. 16S sequencing is not the routine method for identifying fungal taxa, so this option is incorrect in the context of 16S diversity sequencing.

Option 5: Viruses. Viruses generally lack universal conserved genes like 16S rRNA and are not captured by standard 16S diversity sequencing. Viral community profiling often relies on metagenomics or targeted viral gene markers, not 16S.

Summary: The 16S diversity sequencing approach is specifically designed to profile prokaryotic life, with bacterial communities being the primary target due to the presence of the 16S rRNA gene in bacteria and archaea and its well-established reference databases for taxonomic classification. The remaining options refer to organisms not typically analyzed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing, either because they are eukaryotes or because they do not possess the 16S marker targeted by this method.

AGRI20044_2025_SM1 Supplementary/Special Exam: Microbiology in Agriculture (AGRI20044_2025_SM1)- Requires Respondus LockDown Browser

In the investigation of microbial community dynamics, what organism is targetted by the use of 16S diversity sequencing?

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