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  • Metagenomic clustering reveals microbial contamination as an essential consideration in ultraconserved element design for phylogenomics with insect museum specimens
Title: Metagenomic clustering reveals microbial contamination as an essential consideration in ultraconserved element design for phylogenomics with insect museum specimens
Abstract Phylogenomics via ultraconserved elements (UCEs) has led to improved phylogenetic reconstructions across the tree of life. However, inadvertently incorporating non‐targeted DNA into the UCE marker design will lead to misinformation being incorporated into subsequent analyses. To date, the effectiveness of basic metagenomic filtering strategies has not been assessed in arthropods. Designing markers from museum specimens requires careful consideration of methods due to the high levels of microbial contamination typically found in such specimens. We investigate if contaminant sequences are carried forward into a UCE marker set we developed from insect museum specimens using a standard bioinformatics pipeline. We find that the methods currently employed by most researchers do not exclude contamination from the final set of targets. Lastly, we highlight several paths forward for reducing contamination in UCE marker design.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1856402
PAR ID:
10371073
Author(s) / Creator(s):
 ;  ;  ;  ;  
Publisher / Repository:
Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Ecology and Evolution
Volume:
12
Issue:
3
ISSN:
2045-7758
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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