Full-length 16S rRNA gene amplicon analysis of human gut microbiota using MinION™ nanopore sequencing confers species-level resolution

Species-level genetic characterization of complex bacterial communities has important clinical applications. In the present study, we assessed the performance of full-length 16S rRNA gene analysis of human gut microbiota using the nanopore long-read sequencer MinION™. A new strategy for library construction with an optimized primer set overcame PCR-associated bias and produced accurate taxonomic classifications of a broad range of bacterial species. Our present microbiome study, comparing the discriminatory power of full-length and short-read sequencing, clearly illustrated the analytical advantage of sequencing the full-length 16S rRNA gene, which provided higher species-level resolution and accuracy.