Summary
High quality reference genome sequences are the core of modern genomics. Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) produces inexpensive DNA sequences in excess of 100,000 nucleotides but error rates remain >10% and assembling these sequences, particularly for eukaryotes, is a non-trivial problem. To date there has been no comprehensive attempt to generate experimental design for ONT genome sequencing and assembly. Here, we simulate ONT and Illumina DNA sequence reads for Escherichia coli, Caenorhabditis elegans, Arabidopsis thaliana, and Drosophila melanogaster. We quantify the influence of sequencing coverage, assembly software and experimental design on de novo genome assembly and error correction to predict the optimum sequencing strategy for these organisms. We show proof of concept using real ONT data generated for the nematode Caenorhabditis remanei. ONT sequencing is inexpensive and accessible, and our quantitative results will be helpful for a broad array of researchers seeking guidance for de novo genome assembly projects.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
