Comparative analysis of whole genome amplification kits for single cell genome analysis
Whole genome amplification (WGA) enables detailed analysis of genomic heterogeneity at the cellular level. Here, we systematically compare two commercially available WGA technologies on single cells; Multiple Displacement Amplification in the Qiagen REPLI-g kit (MDA/REPLI-g) and Primary Template-directed Amplification in the BioSkryb ResolveDNA kit (PTA/ResolveDNA). Beyond quality control and genomic profiling, we assessed a cost-effective array-based approach as a complement to low-pass sequencing. Consistent with available benchmarks, PTA/ResolveDNA sequencing libraries consistently outperformed MDA/REPLI-g across quality metrics, including genome coverage breadth and uniformity. CNV calls from PTA-cells showed higher accuracy and sensitivity, including reliable detection of small CNVs at low sequencing depth. SNP array-based analysis corroborated sequencing-based findings, and additionally provided allelic information. Notably, CNV detection from SNP arrays matched the performance of low-pass sequencing, supporting its utility as an cost-effective approach for WGA quality control and single-cell CNV profiling.