CosmosID, a leader in the field of microbiome analysis, announced today the launch of both long-read and hybrid sequencing offerings for comprehensive genome assembly and analysis. By utilizing both Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) and Illumina based sequencing, CosmosID has developed optimized bioinformatic solutions for greater genome assembly capabilities, resulting in decreased number of contigs, increased N50 rates, as well as a higher success rate of complete (closed) genomes.
“Long read sequencing approaches have been a promising option for bacterial genome analysis for some time, however barriers such as significantly increased cost and accuracy concerns have been largely prohibitive up to this point,” said Ben Briggs, CMO of CosmosID. “Through rigorous R&D at CosmosID, both in the lab as well as our bioinformatic methods, we have created optimized solutions to offer long-read approaches with world-class quality at significantly reduced prices. With these approaches, we expect to see higher genome completion rates and more comprehensive reports to better support epidemiological and regulatory work when assessing bacterial genomes.”
Unlike traditional short-read next-generation sequencing, which only produces 150bp long reads, utilization of long read sequencing technology incorporates reads >10,000bp long into bacterial genome assembly and analysis. With these longer DNA fragments, common problems in bacterial genomes such as repeat regions can be navigated more efficiently and accurately as compared to short-read approaches, resulting in more complete genomes and comprehensive analysis for applications such as epidemiology as well as live bio-therapeutic and probiotic development. Additionally, CosmosID’s bioinformatic tools can provide industry-leading insight into bacterial genomes, including:
- Taxonomic identification
- Phylogenetic analyses
- Functional genes and pathways
- SNP and ANI analyses
- Antimicrobial Resistance and Virulence Factors
- Whole genome variant characterization
- Insertions and deletions
- Plasmid detection
“By bringing long read sequencing chemistry into bacterial genome applications, we’re offering the industry a world-class solution to address any of their bacterial isolate needs,” said Manoj Dadlani, CEO of CosmosID. “Leveraging CosmosID’s world leading bioinformatics solutions with this approach will help move the field of microbiology forward with more comprehensive insight into bacterial genomes. We’re excited to bring this solution to our colleagues in various fields such as epidemiology and LBP development, as we believe this will significantly improve the utility and efficiency of their work.”
About CosmosID
CosmosID®, based in Germantown, Maryland, and Stockholm, Sweden is a global leader in providing optimized microbiome analysis solutions. Through its CLIA-certified and GxP compliant infrastructure and multi-kingdom, strain-level metagenomics platform, CosmosID is able to offer single and multi-omic research services for the biopharmaceutical, nutrition, animal health, personal care, cosmetics, agriculture and academic markets. CosmosID was founded in 2008 by Dr. Rita Colwell, former director of the U.S. National Science Foundation and currently Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. To learn more please visit www.cosmosid.com.
