A sensitivity analysis of methodological variables associated with microbiome measurements.

ABSTRACT: The experimental methods employed during metagenomic sequencing analyses of microbiome samples significantly impact the resulting data and typically vary substantially between laboratories. In this study, a full factorial experimental design was used to compare the effects of a select set of methodological choices (sample, operator, lot, extraction kit, variable region, and reference database) on the analysis of biologically diverse stool samples. For each parameter investigated, a main effect was calculated that allowed direct comparison both between methodological choices (bias effects) and between samples (real biological differences). Overall, methodological bias was found to be similar in magnitude to real biological differences while also exhibiting significant variations between ind

SUBMITTER: Forry SP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11792480 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature