Rapid genomic discovery using VolTRAX library preparation and nanopore sequencing

Closing out the first Lightning session for London Calling 2019, Devin Drown from the University of Alaska Fairbanks demonstrated how VolTRAX and MinION from Oxford Nanopore provides a rapid, simple, and portable sequencing workflow for various applications and sample types.

Devin described his lab’s research interest in connecting environmental, animal, and human health — often referred to the ‘one health’ framework. Their projects span the analysis of microbial communities in soil, uncovering environmental antibiotic resistomes, and, more recently, animal pathogens such as African swine fever virus. Devin’s team were one of the first to trial automated library preparation for nanopore sequencing using the portable, USB-powered VolTRAX V1 device. The use of which contributed to a recent publication examining the effect of permafrost thaw on below ground microbial communities and how these microbial communities affect plant health

Since, Spring this year, the team have been testing the second generation VolTRAX device, which Devin claimed to be a remarkable improvement on the initial beta test version.  In particular, Devin described the facility to visualise sample loading progress on a laptop as a ‘killer feature’. Using the VolTRAX and MinION, they were able to obtain 14 Gb of whole genome sequence data for a Bacillus mycoides TH26 sample, with an average read length of 3.2 kb ― allowing the generation of a 98.2% complete assembly. The team also tested the VolTRAX and MinION workflow to prepare and sequence the cancer cell line BCBL-1. This delivered a total of 10 Gb data from a single MinION Flow Cell with an average read length of 7.5 kb.

Highlighting the simplicity and reproducibility of the approach, Devin pointed out that these proof-of-principle studies were performed by undergraduate researchers. In his words the combination of VolTRAX with the MinION ‘provides a reliable and repeatable bench experience’.