Novel method of probe design for characterising unclassified microbial taxa in wastewater

Abstract

for their tremendous help with the flow cytometry work. The flow cytometry work would not have gone smoothly without their invaluable expertise and advice. Prof Federico Lauro had proposed the use of FISH-FACS tool for the enrichment of the unclassified bacteria and I appreciate his input. The sequencing team in SCELSE has helped with the sequencing aspect of my thesis. Special thanks go to Dr Daniela Moses whom I have consulted on the type of sequencing platform to use and Mr Alexander Putra who has efficiently handled my samples for sequencing.Mr Larry Liew was instrumental in obtaining sludge samples from Ulu Pandan Water Reclamation Plant, and I will like to thank him for his time and effort.Dr Xie Chao was the author of the RiboTagger software and he suggested the design of FISH probes from RiboTags. Mr Wesley Goi rendered advice in the updating of the SILVA database in the RiboTagger software. Dr Xiang Hui Liu was instrumental in attempting genomic binning using other software that was not covered in this thesis. Recovery of draft genomes from enriched samples was influenced through discussions with Dr Rohan Williams.My sincerest appreciation goes towards Dr Muhammud Hafiz, Dr Martin Tay, Dr Rasmus Kirkegaard and Miss Krithika Arumugam for their kind patience in imparting basic bioinformatics knowledge to me. The thesis would not have been a success without the acquisition of these essential skills.