Biology subjects

Sumner, J. T.

Publications and source records attributed to Sumner, J. T..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Benchmarking Microbiome Methods for Improved Metagenomic Sequencing of Lower Respiratory Tract Samples

Bronchoalveolar lavage is a common diagnostic strategy used to sample immune cells and microbiota of the lower respiratory tract. Metagenomic sequencing of raw bronchoalveolar lavage fluid reveals a low biomass microbial community often obscured by abundant host DNA. Here, we set out to determine an optimal strategy to robustly purify microbial DNA in excess of human DNA using a combinatorial lysis, host-depletion, DNA extraction approach. We identify strategies that improve metagenomic sequencing success that are commensurate with purification challenges that reduce signal from respiratory microbiota. Finally, we present a general framework to further improve microbial sequencing of lower respiratory tract samples in a robust and reproducible manner.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2026

Enhanced multi-omic viral profiling from microbial community sequencing with BAQLaVa

Viruses are crucial components of microbial communities, both phage that infect bacterial community members as well as pathogenic and other eukaryotic viruses. However, they remain unobserved by most current technologies, due to combinations of experimental and analytical factors. To address the latter, we developed the BAQLaVa algorithm for high-resolution profiling of >120,000 viral species (viral genome bins, VGBs) via reference-based metagenome (MGX) or metatranscriptome (MTX) alignment to complementary nucleotide markers and proteome sets. In comprehensive benchmarking, BAQLaVa substantially outperformed alternatives, achieving species-level recall and precision regularly over 90%. We applied BAQLaVa to MGX and MTX samples from the HMP2 IBDMDB cohort to identify previously undescribed viral perturbations in inflammatory bowel diseases. Most notably, virome diversity was reduced in tandem with bacterial diversity during inflammation, in contrast to previous findings based on a narrower range of viral detection. A subset of viruses were enriched during IBD, associated with carriage of abortive infection anti-defense systems such as AbiL and PD-{lambda}-2, as well as genes involved in the regulation of lysogeny. Leveraging the corresponding viral profiles, we also inferred phage-host relationships using scalable co-occurrence and covariation signals, even in the absence of host references or genome annotations. By enabling high sensitivity and specificity viral profiling from metagenomes or metatranscriptomes, BAQLaVa provides a scalable framework for virome epidemiology and systematic analysis of virus-host interactions.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2023

De novo genome assembly and comparative genomics for a colonial ascidian

Ascidians have the potential to reveal fundamental biological insights related to coloniality, regeneration, immune function, and the evolution of these traits. This study implements a hybrid assembly technique to produce a genome assembly and annotation for the botryllid ascidian, Botrylloides violaceus. A hybrid genome assembly was produced using Illumina, Inc. short and Oxford Nanopore Technologies long-read sequencing technologies. The resulting assembly is comprised of 831 contigs, has a total length of 121 Mbp, N50 of 1 Mbp and a BUSCO score of 96.1%. Genome annotation identified 13K protein-coding genes. Comparative genomic analysis with other tunicates reveals patterns of conservation and divergence within orthologous gene families even among closely related species. Characterization of the Wnt gene family, encoding signaling ligands involved in development and regeneration, reveals conserved patterns of subfamily presence and gene copy number among botryllids. This supports the use of genomic data from non-model organisms in the investigation of biological phenomena.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2022

Survival and Transcriptomic Response of Clinically relevant pathogens on Surfaces in Relation to Probiotic and Traditional Cleaning Strategies

Indoor surfaces are paradoxically presumed to be both colonized by pathogens, necessitating disinfection, and "microbial wastelands." In these resource-poor, dry environments, competition and decay are thought to be important drivers of microbial community composition. However, the relative contributions of these two processes have not been specifically evaluated. To bridge this knowledge gap, we used microcosms to specifically evaluate whether interspecies interactions occur on surfaces. We combined transcriptomics and traditional microbiology techniques to investigate whether competition occurred between two clinically important pathogens, Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae, and a probiotic cleaner containing a consortium of Bacillus species. Probiotic cleaning seeks to take advantage of ecological principles such as competitive exclusion, thus using benign microorganisms to inhibit viable pathogens, but there is limited evidence that competitive exclusion in fact occurs in environments of interest (i.e., indoor surfaces). Our results indicate that competition in this setting has a negligible impact on community composition but may influence the functions expressed by active organisms. Although Bacillus spp. remained viable on surfaces for an extended period of time after application, viable colony forming units (CFUs) of A. baumannii recovered following exposure to a chemical-based detergent with and without Bacillus spp. showed no statistical difference. Similarly, for K. pneumoniae, there were small statistical differences in CFUs between cleaning scenarios with or without Bacillus spp. in the chemical-based detergent. The transcriptome of A. baumannii with and without Bacillus spp. exposure shared a high degree of similarity in overall gene expression, but the transcriptome of K. pneumoniae differed in overall gene expression, including reduced response in genes related to antimicrobial resistance. Together, these results highlight the need to fully understand the underlying biological and ecological mechanisms for community assembly and function on indoor surfaces, as well as having practical implications for cleaning and disinfection strategies for infection prevention.

microbiology↗