PICRUSt2: An improved and customizable approach for metagenome inference

One major limitation of microbial community marker gene sequencing is that it does not provide direct information on the functional composition of sampled communities. Here, we present PICRUSt2 ( https://github.com/picrust/picrust2 ), which expands the capabilities of the original PICRUSt method 1 to predict the functional potential of a community based on marker gene sequencing profiles. This updated method and implementation includes several improvements over the previous algorithm: an expanded database of gene families and reference genomes, a new approach now compatible with any OTU-picking or denoising algorithm, and novel phenotype predictions. Upon evaluation, PICRUSt2 was more accurate than PICRUSt1…

• G
  GlaxoSmithKline
• NI
  National Institutes of Health
• NS
  Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
• NI
  National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism