Methods for The Metagenomic Data Visualization and Analysis
Konstantin Sudarikov, Alexander Tyakht and Dmitry Alexeev
from: Metagenomics: Current Advances and Emerging Concepts (Edited by: Diana Marco). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2017) Pages: 37-58.
Abstract
Surveys of environmental microbial communities using metagenomic approach produce vast volumes of multidimensional data regarding the phylogenetic and functional composition of the microbiota. Faced with such complex data, a metagenomic researcher needs to select the means for data analysis properly. Data visualization became an indispensable part of the exploratory data analysis and serves a key to the discoveries. While the molecular-genetic analysis of even a single bacterium presents multiple layers of data to be properly displayed and perceived, the studies of microbiota are significantly more challenging. Here we present a review of the state-of-art methods for the visualization of metagenomic data in a multi-level manner: from the methods applicable to an in-depth analysis of a single metagenome to the techniques appropriate for large-scale studies containing hundreds of environmental samples.
