Introducing DOTUR, a computer program for defining operational taxonomic units and estimating species richness.

ABSTRACT: Although copious qualitative information describes the members of the diverse microbial communities on Earth, statistical approaches for quantifying and comparing the numbers and compositions of lineages in communities are lacking. We present a method that addresses the challenge of assigning sequences to operational taxonomic units (OTUs) based on the genetic distances between sequences. We developed a computer program, DOTUR, which assigns sequences to OTUs by using either the furthest, average, or nearest neighbor algorithm for each distance level. DOTUR uses the frequency at which each OTU is observed to construct rarefaction and collector's curves for various measures of richness and diversity. We analyzed 16S rRNA gene libraries derived from Scottish and Amazonian soils and the Sarga

SUBMITTER: Schloss PD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1065144 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature