Microbial Single Cell Genomics Facility
Single cell genomics is a novel, transformative approach for studying the uncultured microbial organisms that complements the strengths and limitations of cultivation and metagenomics. Bigelow scientists pioneered the use of high-speed fluorescence-activated sorting of single cells, their whole genome amplification, and subsequent DNA sequencing. This approach is now being used in a wide range of research projects, spanning microbial biogeochemical function assignment, trophic interactions, viral infections, and whole genome reconstruction of the uncultured taxa from complex communities.
Our current capabilities include:
- DNA contamination-free fluorescence-activated sorting of single microbial cells into microplates, using either a Bigelow-based or a mobile fluorescence-activated sorting facility
- Multiple displacement amplification of single microbial genomes using phi29 polymerase
- Initial quality control of the single amplified genomes (SAGs)
- PCR-based screening of the SAGs for specific targets
- Consulting on single cell whole genome sequencing
We are in a process of expanding our wet lab and computational capabilities to provide shared user support for high-throughput microbial single cell genomics.