Funded Projects

Lake Erie is vital source of drinking water. During periods of rainfall and snowmelt, untreated or partially treated wastewater is discharged into the Lake through sewer overflows (SOs). These sewer overflows represent a serious human health risk. But, quantifying the human health risk is challenging in large part due to knowledge gaps around the microbial and genetic composition of sewage pollution, how the sewage microbial community interacts with the environmental microbial community, and the persistence of sewage-associated pathogens and genes in the environment. The MinION portable DNA sequencer by Oxford Nanopore Technologies is the first DNA sequencer that can be used in the field to sequence all the DNA in a sample in real time. Previously, a sample would be collected and analyzed for a small portion of one gene associated with one microorganism in the lab days after the sample is collected. Now, data from the MinION can be used to examine the microbial community composition, the functionality of that community, the presence of viruses (which cannot be identified through amplicon sequencing) and the presence of antimicrobial resistance genes (which could lead to the spread of antimicrobial resistance) all in one sample analyzed as soon as the sample is collected and the DNA extracted. Drs. Sassoubre and Bradley have experience looking at single genetic markers of sewage-associated microorganisms but never in real time and never in conjunction with pathogens and antimicrobial resistance genes which directly impact human health. Dr. Zola’s expertise is necessary to be able to efficiently turn the voltage signal from the MinION into a DNA sequence with a taxonomic assignment all in just minutes to hours using a portable laptop. The proposed research will significantly change our understanding of the human health risks and environmental processes associated with sewage pollution in drinking water sources and has relevance both domestically and internationally.