The study of how to study the Fungi kingdom is vital due to their diverse ecological functions, such as decomposers and symbiote, and parasites. In addition, there are over 1 million species of fungi, so scientists need high-throughput methods for examining this diversity. One way to do this is called next-generation sequencing.
This blog will discuss the reasons and methods researchers use to sequence fungi, what the ITS and 18S genes do, the best way to select between them, and how we can assist you in the fungal sequence project you’re working on.
Why should we perform sequencing to aid in the analysis of fungal communities?
Library preparation of Fungal sequencing is a method to identify new fungal species, identify known fungal species, investigate the nature of fungal communities, and determine the role of fungi within the natural world. It is also crucial to research these communities to improve human health because there are species of fungi that resist antifungal medicines and others that are involved in developing plant-related diseases. So, fungi sequencing is essential for various areas, such as agriculture, conservation of the environment, and microbiology.
The two methods, ITS or 18S sequencing, have become well-established techniques for studying fungal communities because they are easy to recognize fungi in complex microbiomes or environments that are otherwise difficult to research. In addition, this kind of amplicon-specific sequencing allows the study of fungal communities within highly mixed environment samples, such as water or soil.
How do you choose between 18S and ITS?
While the two ITS and 18S rRNA help assess the diversity of fungal species in samples of environmental pollution, There are enough distinctions between them that researchers could prefer to focus only on one. However, sequencing for both is also an option.
There was a relatively low evolutionary pressure that allowed The ITS1 and ITS2 sequences to stay preserved, which is why the ITS region is highly variable between species of fungal fungi but remains moderately constant among individuals belonging to similar species. This makes it used as a marker for species identification when it comes to the classification of fungi. In addition, it is often utilized to analyze the relative abundance of fungi as well. This is very useful if you have to investigate genetic diversity within a species and even in a specific species.
However, there was enormous pressure from evolutionary standpoints for this gene to remain highly conserved as a part of the little eukaryotic 40S subunit, a vital component of all eukaryotic cells. Because of this pressure, 18S has been considered a biomarker that can be used to determine the classification of fungi at the species level and is frequently utilized in a variety of phylogenetic analyses as well as environmental biodiversity screenings.
In conclusion in summary, in summary, the ITS region is used primarily to study fungal diversity, and the 18S rRNA is utilized for high-resolution taxonomic studies of fungal species.
