Optimised biomolecular extraction for metagenomic analysis of microbial biofilms from high-mountain streams.

ABSTRACT: Glacier-fed streams (GFS) are harsh ecosystems dominated by microbial life organized in benthic biofilms, yet the biodiversity and ecosystem functions provided by these communities remain under-appreciated. To better understand the microbial processes and communities contributing to GFS ecosystems, it is necessary to leverage high throughput sequencing. Low biomass and high inorganic particle load in GFS sediment samples may affect nucleic acid extraction efficiency using extraction methods tailored to other extreme environments such as deep-sea sediments. Here, we benchmarked the utility and efficacy of four extraction protocols, including an up-scaled phenol-chloroform protocol. We found that established protocols for comparable sample types consistently failed to yield sufficient high-q

SUBMITTER: Busi SB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7597623 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature