Actinobacteria are the most abundant microorganisms in freshwater lakes, but we know very little about their role in the ecosystem. 16S Ribosomal RNA is useful to classify microorganisms, but tells us nothing of their day to day activities. Single cell sequencing of Actinobacteria has helped us understand the role of these microbes in the ecosystem. Like Actinobacteria, Mikrocytos mackini, a parasite found in oysters that causes Denman Island disease, is difficult to isolate and culture. Sequencing has helped us identify this organism that previously evaded all classification attempts. For more information on applications of Illumina technology in the field of Microbial Genomics, please visit us at Illumina: Microbial Genomics http://www.illumina.com/applications/microbiology.ilmn Products: HiSeq: http://systems.illumina.com/systems/hiseq_2500_1500.ilmn Publication Links: PMID: 23891116 | Burki F., et al. (2014): http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=23891116 PMID: 25093637 | Xu H., et al. (2014): http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=25093637 Publication Research Reviews: Virus Detection and Research: http://www.illumina.com/documents/products/research_reviews/viral_detection_research_review.pdf Metagenomics 2nd Edition: http://www.illumina.com/documents/products/research_reviews/metagenomics_research_review.pdf The Science Mondays (SciMon) series is brought to you by Illumina http://www.illumina.com/ Illumina hosts Swati Kadam, Ph.D., Scientific Liaison, Scientific Affairs and Jacques Retief, Associate Director Scientific Affairs deliver 7 minutes of scientific enlightenment on the latest discoveries.