16S rRNA Gene Copy Number Normalization Does Not Provide More Reliable Conclusions in Metataxonomic Surveys

• DOI: 10.1007/s00248-020-01586-7
• Publication Date: 2020-08-29T17:05:57Z
• Authors: Robert Starke; Victor Satler Pylro; Daniel Kumazawa M...
• Keywords: Amplicon; Normalization; Amplicon sequencing

Abstract Sequencing 16S rRNA gene amplicons is the gold standard to uncover composition of prokaryotic communities. The presence multiple copies this makes community abundance data distorted and copy normalization (GCN) necessary for correction. Even though GCN provided a picture closer metagenome before, it should also be compared with communities known due fact that library preparation prone methodological biases. Here, we process amplicon from eleven simple mock DADA2 estimate impact GCN. In all cases, derived sequencing differs those expected, fails improve classification most analysed Our approach provides empirical evidence does not target analyses in real scenarios. We therefore question use metataxonomic surveys until more comprehensive catalogue numbers becomes available.