JCVI Supports Human Mircrobiome Body Site Experts with Shotgun Data Analysis

Members of the Human Microbiome Project (HMP) Consortium (see http://commonfund.nih.gov/hmp and http://www.hmpdacc.org for more information on the project and partners) including human microbiome body site experts gathered for a virtual Jamboree January 19th. The fully online-based Jamboree has been set-up to communicate initial data products and tools best suited for analysis, primarily to make the data amendable/consumable in a user-friendly way for body site exerts. 61 participants followed the Jamboree agenda with presenters given access to a common desktop that was shared via the internet using an online collaboration tool. Results from  the Data Analysis Working Group (DAWG) were presented in the areas of 16S rRNA gene sequence (16S DAWG) and metagenomic whole-genome shotgun analysis (WGS DAWG). The efforts of the 16S DAWG focus on marker-gene based approaches to estimate biological diversity and how marker variability is associated with patient meta-data. The WGS DAWG  complements results from the 16S marker based analysis with comprehensive sequencing of random pieces of genomic DNA from the collection of microorganisms which inhabit a particular site on, or in, the human body (microbiome). These analyses allow researchers to investigate among other questions what microorganisms are present, and the nature and extent of their collective metabolism, at a particular body site. Ultimately researchers want to relate this information to healthy versus diseases states in humans.

The current survey comprises more than 700 samples from hundreds of individuals taken from up to 16 distinct body sites. Illumina sequencing has yielded more than 20 billion Illumina reads and annotation data produced from the sequences exceeds 10 terabytes. In anticipation of such data volumes, we have developed JCVI Metagenomics Reports (METAREP), an open source tool for high-performance comparative analysis, in 2010. The tool enables users to slice and dice data using a combination of taxonomic and functional/pathway signatures. To demonstrate how the tool can be used by body site experts, we picked and loaded sample data from 17 oral samples and presented a quick tutorial on how users can view, search, browse individual samples and compare multiple samples (see video). The functionality was very well received and body site experts asked JCVI to make all the 700+ samples available. As a result of the Jamboree, JCVI in agreement/collaboration with the HMP Data Analysis and Coordination Center and the rest of the HMP consortium, will soon set-up a dedicated HMP METAREP instance that will allow body-site experts and eventually other users to analyze the DAWG data in a user-friendly way via the web.