16S rDNA Sequencing

Much of microbial taxonomy and metagenomic analyses nowadays are based on studies of the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene (16S). 16S rDNA is a component of the 30S small subunit of the prokaryotic ribosome, which is an essential gene in all bacteria and archaea. Its corresponding gene is about 1500 bases in length, and it has both highly conserved and variable regions, which makes it an ideal taxonomic marker.