High Throughput Method for Identification and Sequencing of Unknown Microbial and Eukaryotic Genomes from Complex Mixtures

Abstract

Disclosed are methods for screening biological samples for the presence unknown microbes, such as bacteria and archaea or unknown eukaryotes using rRNA gene sequences or other highly conserved genetic regions, across multiple biological samples using a unique sequence tag (barcode) corresponding to the sample. The screening process tracks the unknown microbe or eukaryote in a diluted sample where the DNA has been prepared using whole genome amplification. The whole genome of the unknown microbe or eukaryote is then sequenced and assembled.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for identifying an unknown microbe in a biological sample, comprising:
 a. selecting one or more biological samples having an unknown microbe, wherein the selecting comprises deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequencing of one or more polymerase chain reaction (PCR) target sequences from whole genome DNA of the biological samples, so as to identify one or more Unique DNA sequence Identifiers (USID) of the unknown microbe;   b. diluting the biological sample having the unknown microbe selected in step (a) into a high throughput format so as to enable whole genome amplification and sequencing of single microbes in the biological sample;   c. amplifying whole genome DNA from the single microbes in step (b) in a high throughput format;   d. PCR amplifying the USID sequences identified in step (a) from the genomic DNA in step (c) and detecting the presence or absence of the USID of the unknown microbe in each sample from step (c); and   e. conducting DNA sequencing on the whole genome amplified DNA of the unknown microbe identified in step (d), and assembling the DNA sequences into the genome of the unknown microbe.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more USID sequences are conserved in over 70% of prokaryotes. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the USID sequence is selected from the group consisting of: a bacterial or eukaryotic ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) gene, human leukocyte antigen (HLA), microbial toxin producing genes, microbial pathogenicity genes, microbial plasmid genes, human immune system genes, immune system components, 16S rRNA gene sequence, 188 rRNA gene sequence, 26S rRNA sequence, Internally Transcribed Spacer 1 (ITS1), Internally Transcribed Spacer 2 (ITS2), heat shock protein 65 (HSP65), rpoB, recA or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the USID sequence comprises a rRNA gene sequence and an ITS sequence, or portions thereof. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the diluting in step (b) results in one microbe in at least one well of a multiwell plate. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of detecting the presence or absence of the USID comprises DNA sequencing or restriction digestion or both. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the high throughput format is selected from the group consisting of: at least six samples, at least twenty-four samples, at least forty-eight samples, or at least ninety-six samples. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the high throughput format contains ninety-six samples. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the biological sample is any material or fluid obtained from a human, animal, plant, or the environment. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the biological sample is a crude biological sample or a partially-purified biological sample. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the biological sample is selected from the group consisting of: feces, cell lysate, tissue, blood, tumor, tongue, tooth, buccal swab, phlegm, mucous, wound swab, skin swab, vaginal swab, biological material or biological fluid. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the sample is a microbiome sample. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the DNA sequencing in step (e) is selected from the group consisting of: a next-generation sequencing (NGS) method, Sanger sequencing or other sequencing methods. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the assembling in step (e) employs computer implemented methods.