Table 1

Summary of metagenomic sequencing projects

Community

Estimated species richness

Thousands of sequence reads

Total DNA sequenced (Mbp)

Sequence reads in contigs (%)

Acid mine drainage

6

100

76

85

Deep sea whale fall

Sample 1

150

38

25

43

Sample 2

50

38

25

32

Sample 3

20

40

25

47

Sargasso Sea

Samples 1-4

300 per sample

1,662

1,361

61

Sample 5-7

300 per sample

325

265

<1

Minnesota farm soil

>3,000

150

100

<1

Schloss and Handelsman Genome Biology 2005 6:229   doi:10.1186/gb-2005-6-8-229