What is it about?
This paper presents a comparison of 16S rRNA tag sequencing technologies, exploring the impact of primer choice and sequencing platform on alpha and beta diversity analyses. It finds that primer choice and to a lesser extent sequencing platform affect both alpha and beta diversity estimates, but that results of inter-sample comparisons with consistent technology are surprisingly robust to protocol.
Featured Image
Why is it important?
Many labs face tradeoffs when choosing protocols for standard analyses such as 16S rRNA profiling, for example choosing between continuing the use of older protocols to maintain data intercomparability and using newer protocols with higher throughput and lower cost. This study provides guidance on when or if data can be compared across protocols.
Perspectives
Often the results of 16S rRNA profiling studies are treated as an accurate representation of community membership, but in fact any given protocol only provides one perspective with multiple biases.
Dr Susannah Green Tringe
E O Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Primer and platform effects on 16S rRNA tag sequencing, Frontiers in Microbiology, August 2015, Frontiers,
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.00771.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
