A tool kit for quantifying eukaryotic rRNA gene sequences from human microbiome samples

Genome Biol. 2012 Jul 3;13(7):R60. doi: 10.1186/gb-2012-13-7-r60.

Abstract

Eukaryotic microorganisms are important but understudied components of the human microbiome. Here we present a pipeline for analysis of deep sequencing data on single cell eukaryotes. We designed a new 18S rRNA gene-specific PCR primer set and compared a published rRNA gene internal transcribed spacer (ITS) gene primer set. Amplicons were tested against 24 specimens from defined eukaryotes and eight well-characterized human stool samples. A software pipeline https://sourceforge.net/projects/brocc/ was developed for taxonomic attribution, validated against simulated data, and tested on pyrosequence data. This study provides a well-characterized tool kit for sequence-based enumeration of eukaryotic organisms in human microbiome samples.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Eukaryota / classification*
  • Eukaryota / genetics
  • Eukaryota / isolation & purification*
  • Feces / microbiology
  • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing
  • Humans
  • Microbiota*
  • RNA / genetics
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / genetics*
  • Sequence Analysis, RNA / methods*
  • Single-Cell Analysis / methods
  • Software

Substances

  • RNA primers
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 18S
  • RNA