Precision Metagenomics: Rapid Metagenomic Analyses for Infectious Disease Diagnostics and Public Health Surveillance

Abstract

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have ushered in the era of precision medicine, transforming the way we treat cancer patients and diagnose disease. Concomitantly, the advent of these technologies has created a surge of microbiome and metagenomic studies over the last decade, many of which are focused on investigating the host-gene-microbial interactions responsible for the development and spread of infectious diseases, as well as delineating their key role in maintaining health. As we continue to discover more information about the etiology of infectious diseases, the translational potential of metagenomic NGS methods for treatment and rapid diagnosis is becoming abundantly clear. Here, we present a robust protocol for the implementation and application of "precision metagenomics" across various sequencing platforms for clinical samples. Such a pipeline integrates DNA/RNA extraction, library preparation, sequencing, and bioinformatics analyses for taxonomic classification, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) marker screening, and functional analysis (biochemical and metabolic pathway abundance). Moreover, the pipeline has 3 tracks: STAT for results within 24 h; Comprehensive that affords a more in-depth analysis and takes between 5 and 7 d, but offers antimicrobial resistance information; and Targeted, which also requires 5-7 d, but with more sensitive analysis for specific pathogens. Finally, we discuss the challenges that need to be addressed before full integration in the clinical setting.

Keywords: antimicrobial resistance; microbiome; next-generation sequencing; pathogen detection.

FIGURE 1.

Precision metagenomics pipeline. Workflow for application of precision metagenomics for infectious disease diagnostics. There are 3 tracks through which a specimen can be processed: STAT (24 h), Comprehensive, and Targeted. All tracks feed into a bioinformatics pipeline for taxa classification, screening of antimicrobial resistance and virulence markers, and functional analysis.