sMETASeq: Combined Profiling of Microbiota and Host Small RNAs

Understanding microbial communities' roles in human health and disease requires methods that accurately characterize the microbial composition and their activity and effects within human biological samples. We present sMETASeq (small RNA Metagenomics by Sequencing), a novel method that uses sequencing of small RNAs to jointly measure host small RNA expression and create metagenomic profiles and detect small bacterial RNAs. We evaluated the performance of sMETASeq on a mock bacterial community and demonstrated its use on different human samples, including colon cancer, oral leukoplakia, cervix cancer, and a panel of human biofluids. In all datasets, the detected microbes reflected the biology of the different sample types.