Bioinformatics ServicesFunctional Metagenomics and Metatranscriptomics

Revealing the functional potential of a microbiome is undoubtedly one of the biggest advantages to generating shotgun metagenomic data, alongside CosmosID’s strain-level resolution capabilities. By combining the CosmosID functional analysis pipeline with taxonomic profiling and other -omics and metadata collected as part of your study, this is where one can truly unlock the microbiome.

To take functional profiling with CosmosID to the next level, have you thought about metatranscriptomics? By running metatranscriptomic data through the CosmosID functional analysis pipeline, find out which genes are actually expressed in the microbiome and discover potential biomarkers that could fuel your discovery efforts.

By querying databases like the UniRef90 database which contains non-redundant protein clusters, protein families against which hits were generated are annotated with MetaCyc reactions (metabolic enzymes) to reconstruct and quantify complete MetaCyc metabolic pathways in the microbial community sample. In addition, the UniRef_90 gene families are also mapped to GO terms functional system in order to get an overview of GO functions in the community. Lastly, to facilitate comparisons across multiple samples with different sequencing depths, the abundance values are normalized using Total-sum scaling (TSS) normalization to produce “Copies per million” (analogous to TPMs in RNA-Seq) units.

When it comes to exploring the functional diversity of microbial communities, CosmosID stands as a leading choice for functional metagenomic analysis. Our unique approach includes the analysis of metagenomic DNA extracted directly from an environmental sample, offering real-time insights into microbial community structure, including bacteria, fungi, and other constituents of the human microbiome.

Our advanced techniques allow for a comprehensive examination of antibiotic resistance genes, providing crucial information that can impact public health decisions. We even delve into the specifics of environmental DNA, aiding in the preservation and understanding of biodiversity in environmental samples.

At CosmosID, we also employ the use of a bacterial artificial chromosome, enabling us to isolate genomic DNA of interest and study the interaction of genes therein. This empowers us with the ability to not only identify, but understand the functional roles these genes play within their respective communities.

Choose CosmosID for an in-depth, accurate, and reliable functional metagenomic analysis, and unlock the wealth of knowledge hidden within your samples today.

Simply consult with a member of our business development team and build a study plan to answer your principle study question. From there, the CosmosID bioinformatics services team will execute your downstream analysis where in addition to tabular abundance profiles for GO terms and MetaCyc Metabolic Pathways, you will also have the opportunity to opt into downstream statistics and reporting of functional metagenomes to visualize variations between your study cohorts.