Molecular biology: Transcriptomics

Transcriptomics is the analysis of the RNA transcripts produced by the genotype at a given time and provides a link between the genome, the proteome and the cellular phenotype. It is a global approach, which together with genomics, proteomics and metabolomics, has evolved in recent years. In food microbiology, transcriptomics have found application to understand microbial behavior under different environmental conditions. Oftentimes, it is also interesting to understand the global response of the whole microbial community of a food. With the use of metatranscriptomics, it is possible to analyze the collective transcriptome of the microbial community present in a food.