Global Microbial Identifier Proficiency Test

The main objective of the proficiency test (PT) is to facilitate the production of reliable laboratory results of consistently good quality within the area of whole genome sequencing (WGS). Specifically, the PT will evaluate the consistency and robustness of Global Microbial Identifier (GMI) member’s and other’s ability to perform deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) extraction, library preparation, and WGS following different laboratory protocols, software tools, and sequence platforms for the reliability of submitted sequence data. This ensures harmonization and standardization in WGS and data analysis, with the aim to produce comparable data for the GMI initiative. To meet the objective, the laboratory work and analyses should be performed using the methods routinely employed in the individual laboratories. The PT consists of two component, “wet-lab” and “dry-lab” targeting various bacterial pathogens. Only sequences from the wet-lab part are submitted under this study.