FACEPAI

FACEPAI processes environmental DNA (eDNA) high-throughput sequencing barcode data to assign sequences to known taxa using reference databases for ecological and taxonomic research.

Key Features:

• Efficiency: Processes high-throughput barcode sequence datasets in under 15 minutes depending on sequence volume.
• Low memory footprint: Operates with memory usage below 2 GB on standard desktop PCs.
• Automation: Automates sequence filtering, clustering, and taxonomic identification to produce repeatable results.
• Reference database formatting: Requires formatting of reference databases using the CaPReSe script.
• Open-source integration: Integrates several open-source applications for processing and identification.

Scientific Applications:

• Environmental surveys: Applies to eDNA datasets from soil, water, sediment, trap alcohol, and bulk samples for environmental surveys.
• Taxonomic research: Supports taxonomic assignment and barcode-based identification for taxonomic studies.
• Biodiversity assessments: Facilitates rapid biodiversity assessments from large sequencing datasets.
• Species distribution modeling: Provides occurrence data useful for species distribution modeling.
• Ecosystem monitoring: Enables monitoring of ecosystem changes over time via repeatable eDNA analyses.

Methodology:

Reference databases are formatted with the CaPReSe script; the pipeline then automates filtering, clustering, and taxonomic identification and can process multiple samples in succession while integrating several open-source applications.