MAGqual: a stand-alone pipeline to assess the quality of metagenome-assembled genomes

Bibliographic Details
Title: MAGqual: a stand-alone pipeline to assess the quality of metagenome-assembled genomes
Authors: Annabel Cansdale, James P. J. Chong
Source: Microbiome, Vol 12, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2024)
Publisher Information: BMC, 2024.
Publication Year: 2024
Collection: LCC:Microbial ecology
Subject Terms: Metagenomics, Snakemake, Bioinformatics, Pipeline, MAGs, Microbiome, Microbial ecology, QR100-130
More Details: Abstract Background Metagenomics, the whole genome sequencing of microbial communities, has provided insight into complex ecosystems. It has facilitated the discovery of novel microorganisms, explained community interactions and found applications in various fields. Advances in high-throughput and third-generation sequencing technologies have further fuelled its popularity. Nevertheless, managing the vast data produced and addressing variable dataset quality remain ongoing challenges. Another challenge arises from the number of assembly and binning strategies used across studies. Comparing datasets and analysis tools is complex as it requires the quantitative assessment of metagenome quality. The inherent limitations of metagenomic sequencing, which often involves sequencing complex communities, mean community members are challenging to interrogate with traditional culturing methods leading to many lacking reference sequences. MIMAG standards aim to provide a method to assess metagenome quality for comparison but have not been widely adopted. Results To address the need for simple and quick metagenome quality assignation, here we introduce the pipeline MAGqual (Metagenome-Assembled Genome qualifier) and demonstrate its effectiveness at determining metagenomic dataset quality in the context of the MIMAG standards. Conclusions The MAGqual pipeline offers an accessible way to evaluate metagenome quality and generate metadata on a large scale. MAGqual is built in Snakemake to ensure readability and scalability, and its open-source nature promotes accessibility, community development, and ease of updates. MAGqual is built in Snakemake, R, and Python and is available under the MIT license on GitHub at https://github.com/ac1513/MAGqual . Video Abstract
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 2049-2618
Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/2049-2618
DOI: 10.1186/s40168-024-01949-z
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/aa2449fa5e364317a84db4aec5b41211
Accession Number: edsdoj.2449fa5e364317a84db4aec5b41211
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:20492618
DOI:10.1186/s40168-024-01949-z
Published in:Microbiome
Language:English