Raw sequences from plastic samples: control day 0
Sediment samples were collected from coastal areas to look at the naturally-occuring microbial communities. Sediment samples were co-incubated with plastic samples to look at how sediment microbes would reacto to the addition of plastics in their immediate environment. Plastic samples were collected at certain time points through time. DNA were extracted from sediment samples (day 0), and plastic samples (days 7, 42, and 91). DNA was extracted using PowerSoil DNA Kit (MoBio Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) following the manufacturer's protocol. Extracts were visualized on 1% agarose gel using SYBR Safe DNA Gel Stain and concentration was quantified using a Nanodrop spectrophotometer. Then, genomic material from triplicate samples were combined in equimolar concentrations into one tube per sample to ensure equal representation of microbial communities living on the surfaces of the plastics. Multiplex sequencing using the MiSeq Illumina platform was performed in the Integrated Microbiome Resource (IMR) of the Dalhousie University (Canada) using the 515F (Parada) forward (GTGYCAGCMGCCGCGGTAA) and 926R (Quince) reverse (CCGYCAATTYMTTTRAGTTT) primers targetting the V4-V5 region of the 16S rRNA gene.
BD1