Metagenomics linkage group

Qin et al. 2012 define the MLG as "a group of genetic material in a metagenome that is probably physically linked as a unit rather than being independently distributed." This concept arises out of the fact that bacteria often undergo lateral gene transfer (LGT) which allows the microbiome to act essentially as one massive genome through the sharing of genes via LGT. These MLG will give valuable information on the contents of the microbes in the gut even when nothing is known about the species. This will also give researchers important taxonomic information about naming species based on sequence similarity to other known species. Being able to name species and know associations between species more present in T2D patients will give better assessment of the patients predisposition to the disease.