Microbial Metagenomics Developments for Environmental and Public Health Monitoring

Microbial metagenomics has transformed surveillance in the fields of community health and the environment by providing previously unobtainable insights into microbial populations. The discovery of novel and uncommon pathogens as well as the function of dysbiotic microbiome in infectious and chronic human disease may be revealed by a single metagenomics investigation using next-generation DNA sequencing. Recent research has demonstrated that metagenomics is even capable of identifying the complete genome sequences of pathogens, allowing researchers to draw conclusions about antibiotic resistance, pathogenicity, evolution, transmission, microbial diversity, community makeup, phylogenetic investigations, functional activities, and interactions with the environment, which was made possible due to rapid evolution in high-throughput sequencing technologies and bioinformatics tools. This chapter addresses the crucial facets of metagenomic surveillance and emphasizes the paradigm-shifting effects of metagenomic techniques. Sampling and preprocessing of metagenomic data have been explored to examine soil microbial surveillance, waterborne pathogens, airborne microbiota, and environmental microbial communities, in addition, case studies analysis has been summarized in certain circumstances. Overall, this chapter describes developments in microbial metagenomics for monitoring the environment and public health. It highlights how metagenomics may be useful to alter surveillance procedures and advance our knowledge of microbial ecosystems, enabling efficient public health treatments and long-term environmental management.