Progress in prokaryotic transcriptomics

Genome-wide expression studies transformed the field of transcriptomics and made it feasible to study global gene expression in extraordinary detail. These new methods have revealed an enhanced view of the transcriptional landscape and have yielded many biological insights. It is increasingly clear that the prokaryotic transcriptome is much more complex than once thought. Recent advances in microbial transcriptome analyses are highlighted in this review. Areas of progress include the development of optimized techniques that minimize the abundance of ribosomal RNAs in RNA samples as well as the development of novel methods to create transcriptome libraries. Advances such as these have led to a new emphasis in areas such as metatranscriptomics and single cell gene expression studies.

► Technological advances are driving progress in prokaryotic transcriptomics.
► Two concepts, complex, population based and single cell analyses are presented.
► Single cell analyses will alter views concerning transcriptome content and dynamics.
► Global transcriptomic studies involving microbe and plant interactions are lacking.