Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33503026›Full record

ArticlePLoS computational biology2021

One is not enough: On the effects of reference genome for the mapping and subsequent analyses of short-reads.

Carlos Valiente-Mullor, Beatriz Beamud, Iván Ansari, Carlos Francés-Cuesta, Neris García-González, Lorena Mejía, Paula Ruiz-Hueso, Fernando González-Candelas

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PLoS computational biology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 76 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
76citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

76 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. ClinicalFrontiers in microbiology · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Approaches to Studying Viral Pangenome Variation Graphs.Genomics, proteomics & bioinformatics · 2026
    Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
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  11. Article
  12. Review
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  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

16 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Carlos Valiente-MullorJoint Research Unit "Infection and Public Health" FISABIO-University of Valencia, Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), Valencia, Spain.ORCID 0000-0003-4009-6759
Beatriz BeamudJoint Research Unit "Infection and Public Health" FISABIO-University of Valencia, Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), Valencia, Spain.ORCID 0000-0003-0863-3390
Iván AnsariJoint Research Unit "Infection and Public Health" FISABIO-University of Valencia, Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), Valencia, Spain.ORCID 0000-0003-0545-3837
Carlos Francés-CuestaJoint Research Unit "Infection and Public Health" FISABIO-University of Valencia, Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), Valencia, Spain.ORCID 0000-0003-4195-054X
Neris García-GonzálezJoint Research Unit "Infection and Public Health" FISABIO-University of Valencia, Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), Valencia, Spain.ORCID 0000-0001-9089-4033
Lorena MejíaJoint Research Unit "Infection and Public Health" FISABIO-University of Valencia, Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), Valencia, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-7600-6543
Paula Ruiz-HuesoJoint Research Unit "Infection and Public Health" FISABIO-University of Valencia, Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), Valencia, Spain.ORCID 0000-0003-0217-471X
Fernando González-CandelasJoint Research Unit "Infection and Public Health" FISABIO-University of Valencia, Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), Valencia, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-0879-5798

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Mapping of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) reads to a single arbitrary reference genome is a frequently used approach in microbial genomics. However, the choice of a reference may represent a source of errors that may affect subsequent analyses such as the detection of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and phylogenetic inference. In this work, we evaluated the effect of reference choice on short-read sequence data from five clinically and epidemiologically relevant bacteria (Klebsiella pneumoniae, Legionella pneumophila, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Serratia marcescens). Publicly available whole-genome assemblies encompassing the genomic diversity of these species were selected as reference sequences, and read alignment statistics, SNP calling, recombination rates, dN/dS ratios, and phylogenetic trees were evaluated depending on the mapping reference. The choice of different reference genomes proved to have an impact on almost all the parameters considered in the five species. In addition, these biases had potential epidemiological implications such as including/excluding isolates of particular clades and the estimation of genetic distances. These findings suggest that the single reference approach might introduce systematic errors during mapping that affect subsequent analyses, particularly for data sets with isolates from genetically diverse backgrounds. In any case, exploring the effects of different references on the final conclusions is highly recommended.

Indexed as

BacteriaChromosome MappingGenome, BacterialGenomicsHigh-Throughput Nucleotide SequencingPhylogenyPolymorphism, Single NucleotideSequence Alignment

Identifiers

PMID33503026
PMCPMC7870062

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.