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A high-throughput DNA sequence aligner for microbial ecology studies.

ABSTRACT: As the scope of microbial surveys expands with the parallel growth in sequencing capacity, a significant bottleneck in data analysis is the ability to generate a biologically meaningful multiple sequence alignment. The most commonly used aligners have varying alignment quality and speed, tend to depend on a specific reference alignment, or lack a complete description of the underlying algorithm. The purpose of this study was to create and validate an aligner with the goal of quickly generating a high quality alignment and having the flexibility to use any reference alignment. Using the simple nearest alignment space termination algorithm, the resulting aligner operates in linear time, requires a small memory footprint, and generates a high quality alignment. In addition, the alignments generated for variable regions were of as high a quality as the alignment of full-length sequences. As implemented, the method was able to align 18 full-length 16S rRNA gene sequences and 58 V2 region sequences per second to the 50,000-column SILVA reference alignment. Most importantly, the resulting alignments were of a quality equal to SILVA-generated alignments. The aligner described in this study will enable scientists to rapidly generate robust multiple sequences alignments that are implicitly based upon the predicted secondary structure of the 16S rRNA molecule. Furthermore, because the implementation is not connected to a specific database it is easy to generalize the method to reference alignments for any DNA sequence.

SUBMITTER: Schloss PD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2788221 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A high-throughput DNA sequence aligner for microbial ecology studies.

Schloss Patrick D PD

PloS one 20091214 12

As the scope of microbial surveys expands with the parallel growth in sequencing capacity, a significant bottleneck in data analysis is the ability to generate a biologically meaningful multiple sequence alignment. The most commonly used aligners have varying alignment quality and speed, tend to depend on a specific reference alignment, or lack a complete description of the underlying algorithm. The purpose of this study was to create and validate an aligner with the goal of quickly generating a ...[more]

PMID: 20011594

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Project description:Microbiome studies are becoming larger in size to detect the potentially small effect that environmental factors have on our gut microbiomes, or that the microbiome has on our health. Therefore, fast and reproducible DNA isolation methods are needed to handle thousands of fecal samples. We used the Chemagic 360 chemistry and Magnetic Separation Module I (MSMI) instrument to compare two sample preservatives and four different pre-treatment protocols to find an optimal method for DNA isolation from thousands of fecal samples. The pre-treatments included bead beating, sample handling in tube and plate format, and proteinase K incubation. The optimal method offers a sufficient yield of high-quality DNA without contamination. Three human fecal samples (adult, senior, and infant) with technical replicates were extracted. The extraction included negative controls (OMNIgeneGUT, DNA/RNA shield fluid, and Chemagic Lysis Buffer 1) to detect cross-contamination and ZymoBIOMICS Gut Microbiome Standard as a positive control to mimic the human gut microbiome and assess sensitivity of the extraction method. All samples were extracted using Chemagic DNA Stool 200 H96 kit (PerkinElmer, Finland). The samples were collected in two preservatives, OMNIgeneGUT and DNA/RNA shield fluid. DNA quantity was measured using Qubit-fluorometer, DNA purity and quality using gel electrophoresis, and taxonomic signatures with 16S rRNA gene-based sequencing with V3V4 and V4 regions. Bead beating increased bacterial diversity. The largest increase was detected in gram-positive genera Blautia, Bifidobacterium, and Ruminococcus. Preservatives showed minor differences in bacterial abundances. The profiles between the V3V4 and V4 regions differed considerably with lower diversity samples. Negative controls showed signs from genera abundant in fecal samples. Technical replicates of the Gut Standard and stool samples showed low variation. The selected isolation protocol included recommended steps from manufacturer as well as bead beating. Bead beating was found to be necessary to detect hard-to-lyse bacteria. The protocol was reproducible in terms of DNA yield among different stool replicates and the ZymoBIOMICS Gut Microbiome Standard. The MSM1 instrument and pre-treatment in a 96-format offered the possibility of automation and handling of large sample collections. Both preservatives were feasible in terms of sample handling and had low variation in taxonomic signatures. The 16S rRNA target region had a high impact on the composition of the bacterial profile.ImportanceNext-generation sequencing (NGS) is a widely used method for determining the composition of the gut microbiota. Due to the differences in the gut microbiota composition between individuals, microbiome studies have expanded into large population studies to maximize detection of small effects on microbe-host interactions. Thus, the demand for a rapid and reliable microbial profiling is continuously increasing, making the optimization of high-throughput 96-format DNA extraction integral for NGS-based downstream applications. However, experimental protocols are prone to bias and errors from sample collection and storage, to DNA extraction, primer selection and sequencing, and bioinformatics analyses. Methodological bias can contribute to differences in microbiome profiles, causing variability across studies and laboratories using different protocols. To improve consistency and confidence of the measurements, the standardization of microbiome analysis methods has been recognized in many fields.

Dataset Information

A high-throughput DNA sequence aligner for microbial ecology studies.

Publications

A high-throughput DNA sequence aligner for microbial ecology studies.

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