HOPS: automated detection and authentication of pathogen DNA in archaeological remains

High-throughput DNA sequencing enables large-scale metagenomic analyses of complex biological systems. Such analyses are not restricted to present-day samples and can also be applied to molecular data from archaeological remains. Investigations of ancient microbes can provide valuable information on...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hübler, Ron, Key, Felix M, Warinner, Christina, Bos, Kirsten I, Krause, Johannes, Herbig, Alexander
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Medical Engineering & Science
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BioMed Central 2020
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/126318
Description
Summary:High-throughput DNA sequencing enables large-scale metagenomic analyses of complex biological systems. Such analyses are not restricted to present-day samples and can also be applied to molecular data from archaeological remains. Investigations of ancient microbes can provide valuable information on past bacterial commensals and pathogens, but their molecular detection remains a challenge. Here, we present HOPS (Heuristic Operations for Pathogen Screening), an automated bacterial screening pipeline for ancient DNA sequences that provides detailed information on species identification and authenticity. HOPS is a versatile tool for high-throughput screening of DNA from archaeological material to identify candidates for genome-level analyses.