Department of Statistics, University of Oxford, 1 South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3TG, UK.
Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK.
Nat Rev Genet. 2012 Sep;13(9):601-612. doi: 10.1038/nrg3226. Epub 2012 Aug 7.
Whole-genome sequencing of bacteria has recently emerged as a cost-effective and convenient approach for addressing many microbiological questions. Here, we review the current status of clinical microbiology and how it has already begun to be transformed by using next-generation sequencing. We focus on three essential tasks: identifying the species of an isolate, testing its properties, such as resistance to antibiotics and virulence, and monitoring the emergence and spread of bacterial pathogens. We predict that the application of next-generation sequencing will soon be sufficiently fast, accurate and cheap to be used in routine clinical microbiology practice, where it could replace many complex current techniques with a single, more efficient workflow.
近年来，对细菌进行全基因组测序已成为解决许多微生物学问题的一种具有成本效益和便捷的方法。在这里，我们回顾了临床微生物学的现状，以及下一代测序技术如何已经开始改变它。我们重点介绍了三个基本任务：鉴定分离物的物种、检测其特性，如对抗生素的耐药性和毒力，以及监测细菌病原体的出现和传播。我们预测，下一代测序技术的应用很快将变得足够快速、准确和廉价，可用于常规临床微生物学实践，用一种更高效的单一工作流程替代许多复杂的当前技术。
