Analysis of Shotgun Metagenomes with MG-RAST

The field of metagenomics is transforming our ability to study the enormous biomass and diversity of microbial life around us. Understanding this microbial world will lead to advances and practical applications in a broad range of fields. Metagenomic sequencing, provides unprecedented access to the thousands (or even millions) of microbes in an environment. Unlike 16S SSU rRNA amplicon sequencing, metagenomic sequencing (whole shotgun sequencing) provides information on not only who is in a community but what they are doing, extending understanding of community structure towards interactions within an environment. This talk will discuss the MG-RAST analysis pipeline starting from quality control assessment to annotation and an overview the interactive tools for comparative analysis. MG-RAST has analyzed over 60,000 WGS and amplicon datasets equaling approximately 20 Tbp.