Plastics in Oceans 725 million tons of plastic produced each year 10% ends up in the oceans Polluting, dangerous to wildlife, an endocrine toxin
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Single-cell genome assembly of marine bacterial communities
metabolising plastic waste
Robert Sugar 2014 Plastics in Oceans 725 million tons of plastic
produced each year
10% ends up in the oceans Polluting, dangerous to wildlife, an
endocrine toxin Pictures of Plastic Plastic-eating bacteria
Plastic levels are steady from the 80s on where does it go? Plastic
metabolism has been seen in landfills (Pseudomonas) Recently
discovered in seawater (Vibrio)* 10 m * Zettler, E. R. et al.
Microbial Communities on Plastic Marine Debris (2013) Why? ~90% of
bacterial species are unculturable Single-cell sequencing is a
unique window into understanding these organisms Fighting
Contamination with Low Volumes Whole Genome Amplification (WGA)
with Multiple displacement amplification (MDA) Steps Collect
samples from the plastisphere
Cell-sort them by physical properties Single-cell DNA sequencing,
and initial genome assembly Cluster cell by sequence similarity
Co-assemble highly similar samples (likely clonal or same species)
to close gaps, and manage coverage differences Downstream analysis
of genomes to look for pathways relevant to plastic metabolism
