Title
Developing and applying a microdroplet co-cultivation and omics toolbox for elucidating complex microbiomes
Conference Dates
July 14-18, 2019
Abstract
We have been developing, expanding, and applying a technological pipeline, based on nanoliter-scale microfluidic droplets, to co-cultivate and dissect subsets of complex microbial communities in order to elucidate molecular mechanisms underlying their structures and functions. The pipeline consists of droplet generation, cocultivation, isolation, and analysis such as metagenomic sequencing (Figure 1). We apply this technological framework to the study of a range of microbial communities closely related to human health or the environment. For instance, we demonstrate the anaerobic co-cultivation of diverse sub-communities from a human fecal sample and the de novo reconstruction of genomes from a microdroplet. We observe that many of the cultivated bacteria in these encapsulated sub-communities represent the microbial “dark matter”. In particular, we have constructed the draft genome of a novel Neisseriaceae, representing a new candidate genus with potential contributions to fatty acid utilization and biosynthesis of proatherogenic intermediates.
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Recommended Citation
Nina Lin, "Developing and applying a microdroplet co-cultivation and omics toolbox for elucidating complex microbiomes" in "Biochemical and Molecular Engineering XXI", Christina Chan, Michigan State University, USA Mattheos Koffas, RPI, USA Steffen Schaffer, Evonik Industries, Germany Rashmi Kshirsagar, Biogen, USA Eds, ECI Symposium Series, (2019). https://dc.engconfintl.org/biochem_xxi/99