Approaches for in silico finishing of microbial genome sequences

Abstract The introduction of next-generation sequencing (NGS) had a significant effect on the availability of genomic information, leading to an increase in the number of sequenced genomes from a large spectrum of organisms. Unfortunately, due to the limitations implied by the short-read sequencing platforms, most of these newly sequenced genomes remained as “drafts”, incomplete representations of the whole genetic content. The previous genome sequencing studies indicated that finishing a genome sequenced by NGS, even bacteria, may require additional sequencing to fill the gaps, making the...