Metagenomics based spatiotemporal study of Chicago River microbiome

Streams in the urban landscape are highly prone to anthropogenically influenced perturbations which can negatively impact their ecosystem health and water quality. Microbial communities are important ecological components of such streams and their composition and genetic content is also important from a public health perspective. This study aims to understand the spatiotemporal microbial community dynamics in the urban-impacted Chicago River system, with an emphasis on the effects of perturbations such as wastewater treatment plant effluent, combined sewer overflows and stormwater events on the microbial community's taxonomic and functional content. Both whole genome shotgun and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing techniques were employed for analysis of planktonic and sediment prokaryotic microbial communities.