PRJNA287840
watershed biome Raw sequence reads
Water quality is currently assessed primarily at the tap using culture-based indicators of microbial pollution, such as coliform bacteria and E. coli. This paradigm is restrictive because it relies on century-old technologies and does not consider the broader impact of microbial pollution on the larger ecosystem. Furthermore, this approach enables only reactive responses focused on human health rather than proactive measures that protect water at its source: the watershed.Our goal is to change the way we monitor water quality in our watersheds. Advances in genomic technology have enabled us to broadly study the microbial community composition of watersheds and to understand how this community changes in response to environmental perturbations. By broadly surveying the microbial community in our watersheds we intend to discover novel microbial indicators associated with polluted versus healthy watersheds. Our study has three principal goals:1) To use metagenomics to measure the impact of pollution on the bacterial communities in different watersheds.2) To use amplicon sequencing of various microbial genes including the 16S and 18S rRNA and gp23 genes to quantify the microbiome, which consist of viruses, bacteria, and small eukaryotes (which include protists and fungi), of different watersheds.3) To create novel tests that monitor these microbial community changes in order to detect pollution and pinpoint the specific source of the pollution.By creating new tests that focus on overall watershed health, as opposed to just human health, we will provide the advanced tools needed to protect our watersheds.