16S rRNA sequencing of blowhole microbiome of the beluga whale
PCR amplification with V4 16S rRDNA primers for Bacteria and Archaea (Walters, et al. 2016 ) was completed using DreamTaq polymerase, with PCR amplification conditions as follows: 95C for 3 min; 35 cycles of 94C for 45 s, 50C for 60 s, and 72C for 90 s; 72C for 10 min, and then a 10C hold. Products were then sent for sequencing with the Illumina MiSeq instrument at the Microbial Analysis, Resources and Services (MARS) facility at the University of Connecticut.