Application of portable minion sequencing technology for viral metagenomics analysis

Abstract

Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies have shown accelerated growth in the recent years, thus allowing for massive generation of genomic data in a simultaneous, impartial and rapid way. One of the main applications of NGS is metagenomics, which contributes to the identification of emerging pathogens and genomic signatures, thus transforming the medical history. Although the world's main platform for obtaining metagenomic data is represented by Illumina, this equipment is expensive, requires trained human resources and highly sophisticated infrastructure. Given this scenario, a technique that has been gaining ground in the scientific field is the portable MinION platform, which has a low cost, does not require improved infrastructure and, therefore, can be used for field studies in remote regions that are affected in most cases by emerging outbreaks. However, the MinION platform rarely has been applied for metagenomic studies due to the lack of adequate optimization of both the process of obtaining metagenome and the steps of sample pre-preparation, viral concentration and extraction. Therefore, the objective of this project is to optimize the MinION technology in order to obtain and analyze the metavirome of blood donors from three Brazilian regions: Southeast (São Paulo), Central-West (Federal District) and the Amazon region (Amapá), previously infected with viral agents such as HBV, HIV and HCV. The results of this study will provide information on the composition of the viroma of high-risk Brazilian donors, and will also enable the application of MinION technology in the area of viral metagenomics and molecular epidemiological surveillance. (AU)