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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2023.05.31.543018

Metabuli: sensitive and specific metagenomic classification via joint analysis of amino-acid and DNA

Kim, J.·Steinegger, M.
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Abstract

Current metagenomic classifiers analyze either DNA or amino-acid (AA) sequences. DNA-based methods have better specificity in distinguishing well-studied clades, but they have limited sensitivity in detecting under-studied clades. AA-based methods suffer the opposite problem. To tackle this trade-off, we developed Metabuli for a joint analysis of DNA and AA using a novel k-mer, metamer. In benchmarks, Metabuli was simultaneously as specific as DNA-based methods and as sensitive as AA-based methods. In the CAMI2 plant-associated dataset, Metabuli covers 99% and 98% of classifications of state-of-the-art DNA-based and AA-based classifiers, respectively. Metabuli is available as free and open-source software for Linux and macOS at metabuli.steineggerlab.com.

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Kim, J., Steinegger, M.. 2023-06-02. Metabuli: sensitive and specific metagenomic classification via joint analysis of amino-acid and DNA. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.05.31.543018

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