CAPRG: Sequence Assembling Pipeline for Next Generation Sequencing of Non-Model Organisms

Our goal is to introduce and describe the utility of a new pipeline “Contigs Assembly Pipeline using Reference Genome” (CAPRG), which has been developed to assemble “long sequence reads” for non-model organisms by leveraging a reference genome of a closely related phylogenetic relative. To facilitate this effort, we utilized two avian transcriptomic datasets generated using ROCHE/454 technology as test cases for CAPRG assembly. We compared the results of CAPRG assembly using a reference genome with the results of existing methods that utilize de novo strategies such as VELVET, PAVE, and MIRA by employing parameter space comparisons (intra-assembling comparison). CAPRG performed as well or better than the existing assembly methods based on various benchmarks for “gene-hunting.” Further, CAPRG completed the assemblies in a fraction of the time required by the existing assembly algorithms. Additional advantages of CAPRG included reduced contig inflation resulting in lower computational resources for annotation, and functional identification for contigs that may be categorized as “unknowns” by de novo methods. In addition to providing evaluation of CAPRG performance, we observed that the different assembly (inter-assembly) results could be integrated to enhance the putative gene coverage for any transcriptomics study.