Synonyms
Definition
Metagenomic assembly is the computational process used to reconstruct the DNA sequence of a collection of organisms from the individual sequence fragments generated during a metagenomic sequencing experiment. While the sequencing process is roughly the same for a metagenomic sample as for a single organism, the assembly of metagenomic data is substantially more complex and requires specialized software. The process is further complicated in the case of the human microbiome due to the presence of human “contaminant” DNA which must be removed before the microbial DNA is reconstructed.
Introduction
Genome Assembly Basics
While the genomes of most viruses and bacteria range in length from tens of thousands to millions of base pairs, the longest DNA fragments that can be currently “read” by DNA sequencing instruments are at most a few thousands of base pairs long.
The mathematical and computational framework underlying genome assembly algorithms was...
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References
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Pop, M. (2012). Human Microbiome, Assembly and Analysis Software, Project. In: Nelson, K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Metagenomics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6418-1_87-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6418-1_87-4
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