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Updated: May 10, 2026

Metagenomic Analysis of Silage
Published on: January 13, 2017
How much metagenomic sequencing is enough to achieve a given goal?
Jiajia Ni1, Qingyun Yan, Yuhe Yu
1Key Laboratory of Aquatic Biodiversity and Conservation of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China.
Abstract:
Metagenomic studies have dramatically expanded our knowledge of the microbial world. Furthermore, the amount of sample for sequencing has significantly increased with the development of high-throughput sequencing technologies. However, fully capturing all DNA sequences carried by every microorganism in the environment is still impossible. Therefore, estimating a reasonable and practical amount for sequencing to achieve the objectives is particularly necessary. In the present study, we introduce a novel method for estimating the required minimum amount for metagenomic sequencing for a given goal. We also calculated the genomic proportion of each operational taxonomic unit and the detection efficiency of a specific gene (we have used SSU rRNA gene as an example) based on a given amount for random metagenomic sequencing. The reasonable and practical estimated amount for sequencing in metagenomic studies will provide good reference information when applying high-throughput sequencing for a given goal.
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