Menu
July 7, 2019  |  

Complete genomic and transcriptional landscape analysis using third-generation sequencing: a case study of Saccharomyces cerevisiae CEN.PK113-7D.

Completion of eukaryal genomes can be difficult task with the highly repetitive sequences along the chromosomes and short read lengths of second-generation sequencing. Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain CEN.PK113-7D, widely used as a model organism and a cell factory, was selected for this study to demonstrate the superior capability of very long sequence reads for de novo genome assembly. We generated long reads using two common third-generation sequencing technologies (Oxford Nanopore Technology (ONT) and Pacific Biosciences (PacBio)) and used short reads obtained using Illumina sequencing for error correction. Assembly of the reads derived from all three technologies resulted in complete sequences for all 16 yeast chromosomes, as well as the mitochondrial chromosome, in one step. Further, we identified three types of DNA methylation (5mC, 4mC and 6mA). Comparison between the reference strain S288C and strain CEN.PK113-7D identified chromosomal rearrangements against a background of similar gene content between the two strains. We identified full-length transcripts through ONT direct RNA sequencing technology. This allows for the identification of transcriptional landscapes, including untranslated regions (UTRs) (5′ UTR and 3′ UTR) as well as differential gene expression quantification. About 91% of the predicted transcripts could be consistently detected across biological replicates grown either on glucose or ethanol. Direct RNA sequencing identified many polyadenylated non-coding RNAs, rRNAs, telomere-RNA, long non-coding RNA and antisense RNA. This work demonstrates a strategy to obtain complete genome sequences and transcriptional landscapes that can be applied to other eukaryal organisms.


July 7, 2019  |  

Enhancing the accuracy of next-generation sequencing for detecting rare and subclonal mutations.

Mutations, the fuel of evolution, are first manifested as rare DNA changes within a population of cells. Although next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have revolutionized the study of genomic variation between species and individual organisms, most have limited ability to accurately detect and quantify rare variants among the different genome copies in heterogeneous mixtures of cells or molecules. We describe the technical challenges in characterizing subclonal variants using conventional NGS protocols and the recent development of error correction strategies, both computational and experimental, including consensus sequencing of single DNA molecules. We also highlight major applications for low-frequency mutation detection in science and medicine, describe emerging methodologies and provide our vision for the future of DNA sequencing.


July 7, 2019  |  

Satellite DNA evolution: old ideas, new approaches.

A substantial portion of the genomes of most multicellular eukaryotes consists of large arrays of tandemly repeated sequence, collectively called satellite DNA. The processes generating and maintaining different satellite DNA abundances across lineages are important to understand as satellites have been linked to chromosome mis-segregation, disease phenotypes, and reproductive isolation between species. While much theory has been developed to describe satellite evolution, empirical tests of these models have fallen short because of the challenges in assessing satellite repeat regions of the genome. Advances in computational tools and sequencing technologies now enable identification and quantification of satellite sequences genome-wide. Here, we describe some of these tools and how their applications are furthering our knowledge of satellite evolution and function. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


July 7, 2019  |  

HECIL: A Hybrid Error Correction Algorithm for Long Reads with Iterative Learning.

Second-generation DNA sequencing techniques generate short reads that can result in fragmented genome assemblies. Third-generation sequencing platforms mitigate this limitation by producing longer reads that span across complex and repetitive regions. However, the usefulness of such long reads is limited because of high sequencing error rates. To exploit the full potential of these longer reads, it is imperative to correct the underlying errors. We propose HECIL-Hybrid Error Correction with Iterative Learning-a hybrid error correction framework that determines a correction policy for erroneous long reads, based on optimal combinations of decision weights obtained from short read alignments. We demonstrate that HECIL outperforms state-of-the-art error correction algorithms for an overwhelming majority of evaluation metrics on diverse, real-world data sets including E. coli, S. cerevisiae, and the malaria vector mosquito A. funestus. Additionally, we provide an optional avenue of improving the performance of HECIL’s core algorithm by introducing an iterative learning paradigm that enhances the correction policy at each iteration by incorporating knowledge gathered from previous iterations via data-driven confidence metrics assigned to prior corrections.


July 7, 2019  |  

Clustering of circular consensus sequences: accurate error correction and assembly of single molecule real-time reads from multiplexed amplicon libraries.

Targeted resequencing with high-throughput sequencing (HTS) platforms can be used to efficiently interrogate the genomes of large numbers of individuals. A critical issue for research and applications using HTS data, especially from long-read platforms, is error in base calling arising from technological limits and bioinformatic algorithms. We found that the community standard long amplicon analysis (LAA) module from Pacific Biosciences is prone to substantial bioinformatic errors that raise concerns about findings based on this pipeline, prompting the need for a new method.A single molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing-error correction and assembly pipeline, C3S-LAA, was developed for libraries of pooled amplicons. By uniquely leveraging the structure of SMRT sequence data (comprised of multiple low quality subreads from which higher quality circular consensus sequences are formed) to cluster raw reads, C3S-LAA produced accurate consensus sequences and assemblies of overlapping amplicons from single sample and multiplexed libraries. In contrast, despite read depths in excess of 100X per amplicon, the standard long amplicon analysis module from Pacific Biosciences generated unexpected numbers of amplicon sequences with substantial inaccuracies in the consensus sequences. A bootstrap analysis showed that the C3S-LAA pipeline per se was effective at removing bioinformatic sources of error, but in rare cases a read depth of nearly 400X was not sufficient to overcome minor but systematic errors inherent to amplification or sequencing.C3S-LAA uses a divide and conquer processing algorithm for SMRT amplicon-sequence data that generates accurate consensus sequences and local sequence assemblies. Solving the confounding bioinformatic source of error in LAA allowed for the identification of limited instances of errors due to DNA amplification or sequencing of homopolymeric nucleotide tracts. For research and development in genomics, C3S-LAA allows meaningful conclusions and biological inferences to be made from accurately polished sequence output.


January 23, 2017  |  

Tutorial: Iso-Seq analysis application

This tutorial provides an overview of the Isoform Sequencing (Iso-Seq) analysis application. The Iso-Seq application provides reads that span entire transcript isoforms, from the 5′ end to the 3′ polyA-tail….


Talk with an expert

If you have a question, need to check the status of an order, or are interested in purchasing an instrument, we're here to help.