Megraft: a software package to graft ribosomal small subunit (16S/18S) fragments onto full-length sequences for accurate species richness and sequencing depth analysis in pyrosequencing-length metagenomes and similar environmental datasets

Metagenomic libraries represent subsamples of the total DNA found at a study site and offer unprecedented opportunities to study ecological and functional aspects of microbial communities. To examine the depth of a community sequencing effort, rarefaction analysis of the ribosomal small subunit (SSU/16S/18S) gene in the metagenome is usually performed. The fragmentary, non-overlapping nature of SSU sequences in metagenomic libraries poses a problem for this analysis, however. We introduce a software package - Megraft - that grafts SSU fragments onto full-length SSU sequences, accounting for observed and unobserved variability, for accurate assessment of species richness and sequencing depth in metagenomics endeavors. (c) 2012 Institut Pasteur. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.