NCM 2021: A round trip to the desert: in situ nanopore sequencing informs targeted bioprospecting

Bioprospecting expeditions are often carried out in remote locations, to access previously unexplored samples. The bioprospecting workflow is, at present, very time consuming; the sample must be returned to the lab for culturing before the potential of the samples are assessed. Adriel presents his work on assessing the suitability of portable nanopore sequencing in the Tabernas desert to uncover bacterial taxa present in samples exhibiting radiation and desiccation resistance. The expedition saw Adriel and his group collect samples, which underwent 16S rRNA gene sequencing using a mobile laboratory. Guppy basecalling was done overnight, followed by data analysis using a custom pipeline. Importantly, the analysis enabled identification of the most promising samples, based on the sample’s microbial diversity and abundance of radiation and desiccant-resistant genera. They took additional samples from the exact same site, which were subsequently screened based on culturing approaches. Adriel confirmed that nanopore sequencing and culture-based data were in high agreement and concluded that portable nanopore sequencing devices hold potential as easy-to use tools for in situ bioprospecting projects.