Student Presenter(s): Yamini Patel, Srinidhi Gadula, Michael Kaczmarski, and Nigel Oommen
Faculty Mentor: Bryan Gibb
School/College: Arts and Sciences, Old Westbury

A student research initiative called SEA-PHAGES seeks to identify and describe novel bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) from environmental materials, especially soil. Next-generation sequencing technologies enable the rapid and cost-effective sequencing of genomes. SEA-PHAGE sequences one bacteriophage genome from each section using an Illumina MiSeq sequencer, which does a fantastic job providing accurate genomes, however, Illumina sequencers are expensive and sequencing reactions become cost-effective only when performed on a large scale. Oxford Nanopore developed a different sequencing technology, which is cheaper to purchase and operate, making it attractive for use in undergraduate research projects. However, there are looming questions and concerns about the accuracy of Nanopore sequencing and whether this data is of sufficiently high quality to be used as the sole source of sequencing data when publishing bacteriophage genomes. We present two case studies of bacteriophages Argan and Janeemi, isolated in Arthrobacter globiformis NRRL B-2880 from soil on Long Island New York by SEA-PHAGE students at New York Tech. In an effort to explore the efficacy of Oxford Nanopore technology, the genomes of Argan and Janeemi were sequenced using a MinION at New York Tech. The analysis comparing assembled genomes of Argan and Janeemi from the two sequencing methods is underway and will be presented in full at SOURCE.