De novo clustering methods outperform reference-based methods for assigning 16S rRNA gene sequences to operational taxonomic units

Background. 16S rRNA gene sequences are routinely assigned to operational taxonomic units (OTUs) that are then used to analyze complex microbial communities. A number of methods have been employed to carry out the assignment of 16S rRNA gene sequences to OTUs leading to confusion over which method i...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sarah L. Westcott, Patrick D. Schloss
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: PeerJ Inc. 2015-12-01
Series:PeerJ
Subjects:
Online Access:https://peerj.com/articles/1487.pdf