Are you struggling to figure out how to design and analyze studies that generate 16S rRNA gene sequence data? Have you been analyzing 16S data for awhile now but want to fill in the gaps in your knowledge? I've got the workshop for you! The mothur software package has been cited more than 20,000 times making it one of the leading tools for analyzing 16S rRNA gene sequences. This is you change to learn how to design and analyze 16S rRNA gene sequence data from Pat Schloss, the researcher behind mothur.
This workshop is geared towards people with diverse backgrounds. So you shouldn't feel like this isn't for you if you are a beginner. Pat assumes no previous experience with analyzing microbial ecology data or computer programming experience. At the same time, Pat does a number of deep dives into concepts that will give you a more complete understanding of how the algorithms work and relate to each other. There is even plenty of time built into the workshop for you to ask Pat questions about your own project.
The workshop is an even blend of a "chalk talk"-style lecture and hands on use of mothur with real sequence data. The workshop is an expanded discussion on the MiSeq SOP. Here is a rough outline of what the workshop schedule will look like (although it is subject to some minor changes)...
Part 1
- Overview of methods used in microbial ecology
- DNA sequencing technologies
- Introduction to mothur
- Improving sequence quality
- Alignment
Part 2
- Chimera detection
- Distance calculations
- Amplicon sequence variants
- OTU identification
- Sequence/OTU classification
Part 3 3
- Quantitative microbial ecology
- Methods of measuring alpha and beta diversity
- Population level analyses
You'll have access to 18 hours of recordings of Pat's presentations from a recent workshop as well as a PDF with the chalk talk portion of the workshop.