Distribution-based clustering: using ecology to refine the operational taxonomic unit.

ABSTRACT: 16S rRNA sequencing, commonly used to survey microbial communities, begins by grouping individual reads into operational taxonomic units (OTUs). There are two major challenges in calling OTUs: identifying bacterial population boundaries and differentiating true diversity from sequencing errors. Current approaches to identifying taxonomic groups or eliminating sequencing errors rely on sequence data alone, but both of these activities could be informed by the distribution of sequences across samples. Here, we show that using the distribution of sequences across samples can help identify population boundaries even in noisy sequence data. The logic underlying our approach is that bacteria in different populations will often be highly correlated in their abundance across different samples. Con

SUBMITTER: Preheim SP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3811501 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature