Evaluating Sequence Alignment Tools for Antimicrobial Resistance Gene Detection in Assembly Graphs

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an escalating global health threat, often driven by the horizontal gene transfer (HGT) of resistance genes. Detecting AMR genes and understanding their genomic context within bacterial populations is crucial for mitigating the spread of resistance. In this study, we...

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Main Authors: Yusreen Shah, Somayeh Kafaie
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-10-01
Series:Microorganisms
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/12/11/2168
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author Yusreen Shah
Somayeh Kafaie
author_facet Yusreen Shah
Somayeh Kafaie
author_sort Yusreen Shah
collection DOAJ
description Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an escalating global health threat, often driven by the horizontal gene transfer (HGT) of resistance genes. Detecting AMR genes and understanding their genomic context within bacterial populations is crucial for mitigating the spread of resistance. In this study, we evaluate the performance of three sequence alignment tools—Bandage, SPAligner, and GraphAligner—in identifying AMR gene sequences from assembly and de Bruijn graphs, which are commonly used in microbial genome assembly. Efficiently identifying these genes allows for the detection of neighboring genetic elements and possible HGT events, contributing to a deeper understanding of AMR dissemination. We compare the performance of the tools both qualitatively and quantitatively, analyzing the precision, computational efficiency, and accuracy in detecting AMR-related sequences. Our analysis reveals that Bandage offers the most precise and efficient identification of AMR gene sequences, followed by GraphAligner and SPAligner. The comparison includes evaluating the similarity of paths returned by each tool and measuring output accuracy using a modified edit distance metric. These results highlight Bandage’s potential for contributing to the accurate identification and study of AMR genes in bacterial populations, offering important insights into resistance mechanisms and potential targets for mitigating AMR spread.
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spelling doaj-art-79efe96e56104a28ade913f213fe39b12025-08-20T01:53:57ZengMDPI AGMicroorganisms2076-26072024-10-011211216810.3390/microorganisms12112168Evaluating Sequence Alignment Tools for Antimicrobial Resistance Gene Detection in Assembly GraphsYusreen Shah0Somayeh Kafaie1Department of Mathematics and Computing Science, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, NS B3H 3C3, CanadaDepartment of Mathematics and Computing Science, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, NS B3H 3C3, CanadaAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an escalating global health threat, often driven by the horizontal gene transfer (HGT) of resistance genes. Detecting AMR genes and understanding their genomic context within bacterial populations is crucial for mitigating the spread of resistance. In this study, we evaluate the performance of three sequence alignment tools—Bandage, SPAligner, and GraphAligner—in identifying AMR gene sequences from assembly and de Bruijn graphs, which are commonly used in microbial genome assembly. Efficiently identifying these genes allows for the detection of neighboring genetic elements and possible HGT events, contributing to a deeper understanding of AMR dissemination. We compare the performance of the tools both qualitatively and quantitatively, analyzing the precision, computational efficiency, and accuracy in detecting AMR-related sequences. Our analysis reveals that Bandage offers the most precise and efficient identification of AMR gene sequences, followed by GraphAligner and SPAligner. The comparison includes evaluating the similarity of paths returned by each tool and measuring output accuracy using a modified edit distance metric. These results highlight Bandage’s potential for contributing to the accurate identification and study of AMR genes in bacterial populations, offering important insights into resistance mechanisms and potential targets for mitigating AMR spread.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/12/11/2168antimicrobial resistance (AMR)sequence alignmentassembly graphsBandageSPAlignerGraphAligner
spellingShingle Yusreen Shah
Somayeh Kafaie
Evaluating Sequence Alignment Tools for Antimicrobial Resistance Gene Detection in Assembly Graphs
Microorganisms
antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
sequence alignment
assembly graphs
Bandage
SPAligner
GraphAligner
title Evaluating Sequence Alignment Tools for Antimicrobial Resistance Gene Detection in Assembly Graphs
title_full Evaluating Sequence Alignment Tools for Antimicrobial Resistance Gene Detection in Assembly Graphs
title_fullStr Evaluating Sequence Alignment Tools for Antimicrobial Resistance Gene Detection in Assembly Graphs
title_full_unstemmed Evaluating Sequence Alignment Tools for Antimicrobial Resistance Gene Detection in Assembly Graphs
title_short Evaluating Sequence Alignment Tools for Antimicrobial Resistance Gene Detection in Assembly Graphs
title_sort evaluating sequence alignment tools for antimicrobial resistance gene detection in assembly graphs
topic antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
sequence alignment
assembly graphs
Bandage
SPAligner
GraphAligner
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/12/11/2168
work_keys_str_mv AT yusreenshah evaluatingsequencealignmenttoolsforantimicrobialresistancegenedetectioninassemblygraphs
AT somayehkafaie evaluatingsequencealignmenttoolsforantimicrobialresistancegenedetectioninassemblygraphs