VirusSeeker, a computational pipeline for virus discovery and virome composition analysis

Area of Science:

• Virology
• Bioinformatics
• Genomics

Background:

• Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) has revolutionized the discovery of novel viruses and the analysis of viral communities (viromes).
• Identifying viral pathogens and understanding their association with diseases like IBD, malnutrition, and HIV/AIDS relies on effective bioinformatic tools.
• Current computational methods often specialize in either virus discovery or composition analysis, not both.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present VirusSeeker, a novel BLAST-based bioinformatic pipeline.
• To demonstrate VirusSeeker's capability in both novel virus discovery and comprehensive virome composition analysis.

Main Methods:

• Development of a BLAST-based Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) data analysis pipeline named VirusSeeker.
• Application of VirusSeeker to analyze viral sequences for discovery and composition.

Main Results:

• VirusSeeker successfully performs both novel virus discovery and virome composition analysis.
• The pipeline has been utilized in previously published virome studies, demonstrating its practical application.
• This study showcases the dual functionality of VirusSeeker.

Conclusions:

• VirusSeeker is a versatile tool for Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) data analysis in virology.
• The pipeline addresses the need for a unified approach to viral discovery and virome composition.
• VirusSeeker facilitates robust analysis of viral communities and pathogen identification.