Asset Tag: SMRT Science

Recent improvements in sequencing chemistry and instrument performance combine to create a new PacBio data type, Single Molecule High-Fidelity reads (HiFi reads). Increased read length and improvement in library construction enables average read lengths of 10-20 kb with average sequence identity greater than 99% from raw single molecule reads. The resulting reads have the accuracy comparable to short read NGS but with 50-100 times longer read length. Here we benchmark the performance of this data type by sequencing and genotyping the Genome in a Bottle (GIAB) HG0002 human reference sample from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). We further demonstrate the general utility of HiFi reads by analyzing multiple clones of Cabernet Sauvignon. Three different clones were sequenced and de novo assembled with the CANU assembly algorithm, generating draft assemblies of very high contiguity equal to or better than earlier assembly efforts using PacBio long reads. Using the Cabernet Sauvignon Clone 8 assembly as a reference, we mapped the HiFi reads generated from Clone 6 and Clone 47 to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and structural variants (SVs) that are specific to each of the three samples.