Inaugural nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease education and research conference, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, February 1–2, 2020

Honda, Jennifer R.; Chan, Yvonne L.; Tong, Eric I; Kawatachi, Megan; Virdi, Ravleen; Norton, Grant J.; Dawrs, Stephanie N.; Hasan, Nabeeh A.; Epperson, L. Elaine; Crooks, James T; Chan, Edward D.; Strong, Michael

doi:10.1016/j.micinf.2020.09.009

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Our prior research of 62 households found that clinically important NTM species are prevalent in the Hawai’i environment [ 6 ] and may be the source of the high rate of NTM infections [ 7 , 8 ]. To more broadly study NTM diversity, a Hawai’i-based community science network involving more than 200 local students and teachers from 11 different schools collected more than 2,800 environmental samples from across O’ahu, Kaua’i, Hawai’i Island, and Maui [ 9 ]. Results were shared at the Inaugural Hawai’i NTM Lung Disease Education and Research Conference [ 9 ] at ‘Iolani School in Honolulu in February 2020 in partnership with the ‘Āina-Informatics Network (AIN).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To more broadly study NTM diversity, a Hawai’i-based community science network involving more than 200 local students and teachers from 11 different schools collected more than 2,800 environmental samples from across O’ahu, Kaua’i, Hawai’i Island, and Maui [ 9 ]. Results were shared at the Inaugural Hawai’i NTM Lung Disease Education and Research Conference [ 9 ] at ‘Iolani School in Honolulu in February 2020 in partnership with the ‘Āina-Informatics Network (AIN). AIN is an educational program pioneered by ‘Iolani School that was designed to bring genome sciences and bioethics into Hawai’i classrooms [ 10 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Complete genome assembly of Hawai’i environmental nontuberculous mycobacteria reveals unexpected co-isolation with methylobacteria

Hendrix,

Epperson,

Tong

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

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Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are ubiquitous environmental opportunistic pathogens that can cause chronic lung disease. Within the United States, Hawai’i has the highest incidence of NTM lung disease, though the precise reasons are yet to be fully elucidated. One possibility is the high prevalence of NTM in the Hawai’i environment acting as a potential reservoir for opportunistic NTM infections. Through our previous initiatives to collect and characterize NTM in Hawai’i, community scientists of Hawai’i have collected thousands of environmental samples for sequencing. Here, these community scientists were invited for the first time into a high school lab in O’ahu for a genomic sequencing workshop, where participants sequenced four of the collected isolate genomic samples using the Oxford Nanopore Technologies MinION sequencer. Participants generated high quality long read data that when combined with short read Illumina data yielded complete bacterial genomic assemblies suitable for in-depth analysis. The gene annotation analysis identified a suite of genes that might help NTM thrive in the Hawai’i environment. Further, we found evidence of co-occurring methylobacteria, revealed from the sequencing data, suggesting that in some cases methylobacteria and NTM may coexist in the same niche, challenging previously accepted paradigms. The sequencing efforts presented here generated novel insights regarding the potential survival strategies and microbial interactions of NTM in the geographic hot spot of Hawai’i. We highlight the contributions of community scientists and present an activity that can be reimplemented as a workshop or classroom activity by other research groups to engage their local communities.

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