Querying gene function in bacteria has been greatly accelerated by the advent of transposon sequencing (Tn‐seq) technologies (related Tn‐seq strategies are known as TraDIS, INSeq, RB‐TnSeq, and HITS). Pooled populations of transposon mutants are cultured in an environment and next‐generation sequencing tools are used to determine areas of the genome that are important for bacterial fitness. In this review we provide an overview of Tn‐seq methodologies and discuss how Tn‐seq has been applied, or could be applied, to the study of oral microbiology. These applications include studying the essential genome as a means to rationally design therapeutic agents. Tn‐seq has also contributed to our understanding of well‐studied biological processes in oral bacteria. Other important applications include in vivo pathogenesis studies and use of Tn‐seq to probe the molecular basis of microbial interactions. We also highlight recent advancements in techniques that act in synergy with Tn‐seq such as clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) interference and microfluidic chip platforms.

中文翻译：

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绝对必要：通过转座子测序发现必需和条件关键的基因。

转座子测序（Tn-seq）技术的出现大大加快了细菌中基因功能的查询（相关的Tn-seq策略被称为TraDIS，INSeq，RB-TnSeq和HITS）。在环境中培养转座子突变体的汇总种群，并使用下一代测序工具确定对细菌适应性重要的基因组区域。在这篇综述中，我们概述了Tn-seq方法，并讨论了如何将Tn-seq用于或可以用于口腔微生物学研究。这些应用包括研究基本基因组，作为合理设计治疗剂的一种手段。Tn-seq还有助于我们了解在口腔细菌中经过充分研究的生物学过程。其他重要的应用包括体内发病机制研究和Tn-seq的使用，以探查微生物相互作用的分子基础。我们还将重点介绍与Tn-seq协同作用的技术的最新进展，例如聚簇的规则间隔的短回文重复序列（CRISPR）干扰和微流控芯片平台。