MEANGS

MEANGS assembles de novo animal mitochondrial genomes from whole genome next-generation sequencing (NGS) data to produce mitogenome sequences for downstream phylogenetic, evolutionary, and ecological analyses.

Key Features:

• Seed-free de novo assembly: Performs de novo assembly without relying on pre-existing seed sequences by using self-discovery seeds to initiate contig extension from WGS data.
• Trie-search methodology: Implements a trie-search technique to efficiently and rapidly extend contigs from self-discovered seeds.
• Performance evaluation: In comparative studies across 16 species with varying data quality, MEANGS completed all tests and produced full or partial mitogenomes where three other programs failed to complete every sample.
• Sequence selection and annotation: Selects high-quality assembly sequences and annotates mitochondrial protein-coding genes.

Scientific Applications:

• Phylogenetic studies: Provides assembled mitogenomes for resolving species relationships and phylogenetic inference.
• Evolutionary studies: Supplies mitogenome sequences for analyses of evolutionary patterns and divergence.
• Ecological studies: Enables use of mitogenomes in ecological and biodiversity assessments.
• Species identification: Supports species identification using assembled mitochondrial sequences.
• Population genetics: Facilitates population-level analyses using mitochondrial markers.
• Study of evolutionary relationships: Delivers complete or partial mitogenomes for comparative analyses of evolutionary relationships.

Methodology:

Performs de novo assembly from whole genome NGS/WGS data using self-discovery seeds, trie-search-based contig extension, selection of high-quality assembly sequences, and annotation of mitochondrial protein-coding genes.