Introduction:

Determining the genomic sequences of microorganisms has an extraordinary potential for commercial applications and the advancement of scientific knowledge. These organisms exist in nearly all environments including soil, water, air, inside and among symbionts, and within hosts. To fully exploit and commercialize microbes’ unique potential, researchers capitalize on recent advances in DNA sequencing technology to determine the complete genome sequence of microbes composing entire populations and thus are able to identify the genes that govern all of their important processes as well as determine the compositions of complex bacterial communities.