A high-throughput and time-efficient Nanopore full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing protocol for synthetic microbial communities

Abstract

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has transitioned from primarily research-focused applications to a mature technology. However, resolving microbial community composition on the species level based on the 16S rRNA gene is impeded by several critical bottlenecks that limit the efficiency and scalability of analyses. Specifically, standard MiSeq sequencing suffers from read-length limitation; library preparation requires multiple labour-intensive steps from DNA isolation to amplification and barcoding; and prolonged turnaround times delay results. These challenges underscore the need for improved methods, which our study aims to address. Recent advances in Oxford Nanopore long-read sequencing technology (ONT), including a smaller and cheaper benchtop instrument and support for diverse sample types, have enabled faster sequencing in-house with reduced costs. To address the need for standardized, reproducible workflows, we present an optimized and state-of-the-art protocol for full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing using the ONT MinION sequencing device. Furthermore, we quantified the reproducibility and accuracy of our protocol and compared it with previous MiSeq results. The results showed that the accuracy of our sequencing pipeline for synthetic communities is significantly higher than for MiSeq pipeline. In summary, our protocol elucidates the composition of synthetic microbial communities in an easy, fast and accurate manner while ensuring reproducible results.