1. Single-cell genome assembly of marine bacterial communities metabolising plastic waste
Robert Sugar
2014

2. Plastics in Oceans 725 million tons of plastic produced each year
10% ends up in the oceans
Polluting, dangerous to wildlife, an endocrine toxin

3. Pictures of Plastic

4. Plastic-eating bacteria
Plastic levels are steady from the 80’s on – where does it go?
Plastic metabolism has been seen in landfills (Pseudomonas)
Recently discovered in seawater (Vibrio)*
10 μm
* Zettler, E. R. et al. Microbial Communities on Plastic Marine Debris (2013)

6. Why?
~90% of bacterial species are unculturable
Single-cell sequencing is a unique window into understanding these organisms

7. Fighting Contamination with Low Volumes

8. Whole Genome Amplification (WGA) with Multiple displacement amplification (MDA)

10. 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