Practical innovations for high-throughput amplicon sequencing
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Updated: May 8, 2026

Next-generation Sequencing of 16S Ribosomal RNA Gene Amplicons
Published on: August 29, 2014
Derek S Lundberg1, Scott Yourstone, Piotr Mieczkowski
11] Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA. [2] Curriculum in Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA. [3].
Abstract:
We describe improvements for sequencing 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) amplicons, a cornerstone technique in metagenomics. Through unique tagging of template molecules before PCR, amplicon sequences can be mapped to their original templates to correct amplification bias and sequencing error with software we provide. PCR clamps block amplification of contaminating sequences from a eukaryotic host, thereby substantially enriching microbial sequences without introducing bias.
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