Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33817639›Full record

ArticleNAR genomics and bioinformatics2021

Sequencing error profiles of Illumina sequencing instruments.

Nicholas Stoler, Anton Nekrutenko

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in NAR genomics and bioinformatics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 259 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
259citing 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

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

  1. Pooled it
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  12. Review
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  16. Approaches to Studying Viral Pangenome Variation Graphs.Genomics, proteomics & bioinformatics · 2026
    Review
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  19. GapSense: Similarity Estimation-Based Gap Filler with TGS-Reads for Genome Assemblies.Interdisciplinary sciences, computational life sciences · 2026
    Article
  20. Article

199 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

2 authors.

Nicholas StolerGraduate Program in Bioinformatics and Genomics, The Huck Institutes for Life Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Anton NekrutenkoDepartment of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5987-8032

Funding

Democratization of Data Analysis in Life Sciences Through GalaxyU41HG006620 · NHGRI · PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE · PI NEKRUTENKO, ANTON, SCHATZ, MICHAEL · 2012 to 2020
$14.4M
Turning big data analysis infrastructure for HIV researchR01AI134384 · NIAID · PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE · PI NEKRUTENKO, ANTON, POND, SERGEI L KOSAKOVSKY · 2017 to 2021
$4.2M
NHGRI NIH HHS U41 HG006620NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI134384
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Sequencing technology has achieved great advances in the past decade. Studies have previously shown the quality of specific instruments in controlled conditions. Here, we developed a method able to retroactively determine the error rate of most public sequencing datasets. To do this, we utilized the overlaps between reads that are a feature of many sequencing libraries. With this method, we surveyed 1943 different datasets from seven different sequencing instruments produced by Illumina. We show that among public datasets, the more expensive platforms like HiSeq and NovaSeq have a lower error rate and less variation. But we also discovered that there is great variation within each platform, with the accuracy of a sequencing experiment depending greatly on the experimenter. We show the importance of sequence context, especially the phenomenon where preceding bases bias the following bases toward the same identity. We also show the difference in patterns of sequence bias between instruments. Contrary to expectations based on the underlying chemistry, HiSeq X Ten and NovaSeq 6000 share notable exceptions to the preceding-base bias. Our results demonstrate the importance of the specific circumstances of every sequencing experiment, and the importance of evaluating the quality of each one.

Identifiers

PMID33817639
PMCPMC8002175

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.