Abstract
The Brazilian Microbiome Project (BMP) aims to assemble a Brazilian Metagenomic Consortium/Database. At present, many metagenomic projects underway in Brazil are widely known. Our goal in this initiative is to co-ordinate and standardize these together with new projects to come. It is estimated that Brazil hosts approximately 20 % of the entire world’s macroorganism biological diversity. It is 1 of the 17 countries that share nearly 70 % of the world’s catalogued animal and plant species, and is recognized as one of the most megadiverse countries. At the end of 2012, Brazil has joined GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility), as associated member, to improve the access to the Brazilian biodiversity data in a free and open way. This was an important step toward increasing international collaboration and clearly shows the commitment of the Brazilian government in directing national policies toward sustainable development. Despite its importance, the Brazilian microbial diversity is still considered to be largely unknown, and it is clear that to maintain ecosystem dynamics and to sustainably manage land use, it is crucial to understand the biological and functional diversity of the system. This is the first attempt to collect and collate information about Brazilian microbial genetic and functional diversity in a systematic and holistic manner. The success of the BMP depends on a massive collaborative effort of both the Brazilian and international scientific communities, and therefore, we invite all colleagues to participate in this project.
References
Bruce T et al (2012) Microbial diversity of Brazilian Biomes. In: Nelson KE, Jones-Nelson B (eds) Genomics applications for the developing world. Springer, Berlin, pp 217–247
Convention on Biological Diversity. Brazil—Country profile/Overview.http://www.cbd.int/countries/profile/default.shtml?country=br. Accessed 13 August 2013
Hamady M, Knight R (2009) Microbial community profiling for human microbiome projects: tools, techniques, and challenges. Genome Res 19(7):1141–1152
Landim MIPF, Hingst-Zaher E (2010) Brazil's biodiversity crisis. The International Council of Museums Magazine, Paris, 63(2): p. 14–15
Lemos LN et al (2011) Rethinking microbial diversity analysis in the high throughput sequencing era. J Microbiol Methods 86(1):42–51
Mittermier RA et al (2004) Hotspots revisited: earth’s biologically richest and most endangered terrestrial ecoregions. CEMEX &Agrupacion Sierra Madre, Cidade do México, p 392
MMA (1998) First National Report for the Convention on Biological Diversity - Brazil Clearing-house Mechanism for CDB. 283 p. Available on: http://www.mma.gov.br/component/k2/item/7927. Accessed 13 August 2013
Prosser JI (2010) Replicate or lie. Environ Microbiol 12(7):1806–1810
The Wellcome Trust (2003) Sharing Data from Large-Scale Biological Research Projects: A System of Tripartite Responsibility. Available on: http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/stellent/groups/corporatesite/@policy_communications/documents/web_document/wtd003207.pdf. Accessed 27 August 2013
Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge our peer reviewers for the critical comments and suggestions on earlier drafts of the manuscript. We also would like to thank all members of the BMP advisory board as well as all partner companies.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Consortia
Corresponding author
Additional information
Further information and people involved: Brazilian Microbiome Project—http://brmicrobiome.org/ and links therein.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pylro, V.S., Roesch, L.F.W., Ortega, J.M. et al. Brazilian Microbiome Project: Revealing the Unexplored Microbial Diversity—Challenges and Prospects. Microb Ecol 67, 237–241 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-013-0302-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-013-0302-4