Air Metagenome. air metagenome

Here we present a metagenomic framework for studying airborne microbial communities, including protocols for sample collection, and for isolation and amplication of DNA from these samples. A WGS study of airborne microbes requires millions of liters of air be sampled to obtain enough material for sequencing; this requires long sampling times, an efficient means for capture of microbial constituents, and processes to limit post-capture growth which would skew the representation of sampled microbes. We applied this framework to study the composition of indoor and outdoor air samples collected from locations in New York City (NYC), New York and in San Diego (SD), California. Since DNA yields were inadequate for sequencing, the DNA isolated from the samples was amplified to generate sufficient amounts for library construction. Sequence data generated from the libraries were used to study the taxonomic composition of the sampled microbial communities and the functional composition of their bacterial constituents.