Huisman, Thimo (2026) Who Lives There? Characterizing Bacterial, Archaeal and Eukaryotic Communities in Aquatic Systems. Master's Research Project 2, Marine Biology.
|
Text
mMB2026HuismanT.pdf Download (1MB) | Preview |
Abstract
Traditional molecular surveys of microbial communities have relied on separate 16S rRNA gene amplification for prokaryotes and 18S rRNA gene amplification for eukaryotes, limiting our ability to quantitatively compare across domains. This study evaluated the performance of the universal 515Y–926R primer pair combined with Oxford Nanopore MinION sequencing for simultaneous three-domain microbial community characterization. Freshwater samples from five sites on the University of Groningen campus and two North Sea samples were sequenced using Nanopore technology and analyzed against combined NCBI (prokaryotes) and SILVA (eukaryotes) reference databases. Results from campus waters revealed a diverse, multi-domain community composed of 77.5% Bacteria, 0.4% Archaea, and 19.7% Eukaryota, spanning 191 distinct classes. When the same freshwater DNA extracts were analyzed with traditional 16S-only primers, bacterial class composition and ordination patterns were highly consistent between primer sets, indicating that adoption of universal primers does not compromise prokaryotic detection. North Sea samples yielded lower richness and elevated unclassified read fractions, suggesting that sequencing depth and reference database coverage remain critical challenges for marine applications. Overall, 515Y–926R combined with Nanopore sequencing provides an effective, quantitative framework for integrated three-domain microbial community profiling.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master's Research Project 2) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Hackl, T. |
| Degree programme: | Marine Biology |
| Thesis type: | Master's Research Project 2 |
| Language: | English |
| Date Deposited: | 17 Feb 2026 09:50 |
| Last Modified: | 17 Feb 2026 09:50 |
| URI: | https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/37233 |
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |