Title - Taxonomic survey of Anadenobolus monilicornis gut microbiota via shotgun nanopore sequencing
Millipedes constitute one of many soil-inhabiting organisms that act as important components of litter decomposition and nutrient recycling in terrestrial ecosystems. This is thanks in part to the microbial diversity that they contain in their gut compartments. However, millipedes and their gut microbiota are understudied, compared to other arthropods. For this reason, we partook in a metagenomic analysis of the gut of Anadenobolus monilicornis. We collected specimens of A. monilicornis, which were starved for a varying amount of time, from different municipalities of Puerto Rico. Once the DNA from their guts was extracted and sequenced using the MinION nanopore sequencer, we proceeded to analyze and compile the data obtained from the sequencer using programs such as Phylosift and MEGAN6 and the web-based MG-RAST. From our two best samples, we obtained a total of 87,110 and 99,749 reads, respectively. After comparing the data analyses and gene annotation done for both samples, we found that the bacterial phyla Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were consistently well represented; one of our samples had much more Chlamydiae representation than the other, however. Sampled eukaryote phyla include Arthropoda, Chordata and Streptophyta. We would need a greater sample size to better determine differences in microbial diversity between millipede populations across the island; considering our small sample size, however, we were able to broadly reveal the diversity within the microenvironment of A. monilicorniss gut.