Harmful Algae Bloom Microbiome Detection for the Ventura Coastline

Abstract

Harmful Algae Blooms (HABs) are complex changes in the bacterial and mixotrophic algae predator microbiomes are needed. Toxins, released by HABs, cause poisoning in fish, seizures in marine mammals, and amnesic/paralytic shellfish poisoning in humans. A survey of bacterial and algal microbiomes was determined from a transect of twelve shoreline ocean water samples from Ventura County. The hypothesis of this experiment was that a standard DNA isolation from ocean samples collected over five years and processed by Illumina NexGen sequencing could be used to generate a list of bacteria and algae indicators of healthy or unhealthy ocean microbiomes. A list of bacteria was identified as the most prominent species in all twelve samples: Bacillus species, exiguobacterium panipatensis, halomonas venusta, planomicrobium mcmeekinii, pseudidiomarina homiensis, multiple Vibrio species, and Fusobacterium nucleatum. Research by others shows that the above mixotroph algae photosynthesize until competition blocks sunlight and scarce resources which generates the release of toxins to kill other microorganisms and animals. Fish and bivalve feeding on these contaminated waters concentrate the toxins which can result in brain damage in animals and humans when ingested. Detecting these HAB organisms has been elusive because traditional organism cultivation assays to count their numbers directly do not currently predict the release of toxins by HAB organisms. In this study, Fusobacterium nucleatum is proposed to be an indicator species for monitoring bacterial contamination leading to HABs. Fusobacterium nucleatum is associated with human cancers, neurological disorders, and pregnancy complications. LAMP Primers specific for a 16S region were designed to flank a region capable of detection by CAS 3 or CAS 9 CRISPR. The current research developed an assay to be included in an ocean monitoring device with real time data capabilities as an Environmental Sample Processor (ESP).

Details

Session 2

3:00pm – 4:30pm

Grand Salon