Daily PhyloSift Benchmarks

As we code away here at UC Davis, we’ve been keeping track of PhyloSift’s accuracy and performance using daily benchmarks on simulated data. These benchmarks are carried out using the latest versions of the PhyloSift code available on github (master and development branches).

Click the link below to access graphs showcasing a history of how the PhyloSift pipeline has changed during the course of its development. Here we provide information for simulated Illumina and 454 data, as well as information about PhyloSift compute time for each dataset (running on a single-core).

Daily PhyloSift benchmarks on Simulated Data

Note that these benchmarking plots are permanently accessible via the “Quick Links” sidebar located on the righthand side of the PhyloSift homepage.

Support for Multisample Comparisons

Most researchers use barcoded adaptors to pool DNA/RNA from multiple samples and sequence them in a single run (e.g. multiplexing 20 samples within one lane of an Illumina flow cell). We are working hard to increase support for multiplexed data within PhyloSift. Currently, the main client workflow (PhyloSift all mode as executed via the wrapper script) assumes that an input file contains sequence data from a single sample.

We have now prepared a guide to help users conduct multisample comparisons in PhyloSift:

Processing Multiplexed Samples in PhyloSift

Once raw data are demultiplexed and sequence data from individual samples are run through the PhyloSift workflow, the guppy software packages enables rapid taxonomic comparisons across multiple samples. Diversity analyses in guppy include: Principal Components Analysis (akin to PCA using UniFrac), Squash Clustering (akin to UPGMA clustering using UniFrac) and Kantorovich-Rubinstein distance (akin to weighed UniFrac).

New! Workflow Diagrams and Tutorials

We’ve been working hard to improve PhyloSift these past few months, and things are really starting to heat up! You’ll notice some heavy website updates to go accompany our expanded and streamlined code. The following links are permanently housed under Tutorials–>Running Phylosift

For biologists wanting to run their own environmental metagenome data through PhyloSift, we’re compiling a quickstart guide and step-by-step tutorial using test data:

Running Phylosift – An Overview

Metagenome Analysis Tutorial using PE-Illumina Data

PhyloSift also includes discrete workflows for users to incorporate their own marker genes, mine genome data, and generate simulation datasets. Visual diagrams explaining these PhyloSift features can be found here:

Building PhyloSift marker packages (The Monkey)

Generating simulated datasets (The Kangaroo)

Expanding PhyloSift marker databases with new genome data (UpdateDB)

User Support Forum on Google Groups

As we’ve been ramping up the coding, we’re trying to expand our online presence to best meet the needs of our users. With that in mind, we’ve established a dedicated support forum on Google Groups to interact with users and build an online community:

https://groups.google.com/d/forum/phylosift