Nanopore Long Read DNA Sequencing of Protozoan Parasites: Hybrid Genome Assembly of Trypanosoma cruzi

Abstract

Due to highly repetitive genome sequences, short-read-based Trypanosoma cruzi genomes are extremely fragmented. Contiguous trypanosomatid genomes assemblies have resulted in the advent of third-generation sequencing technologies. Long reads span several to hundreds of kbps allowing to correct assemblies of repeated and low complexity DNA regions. However, these techniques present higher error rates. Hybrid assembly strategies that combine error-prone long reads with much more accurate Illumina short reads represent a very convenient approach for enhancing genome completeness. Here, we describe how to perform a hybrid assembly for genomic analysis of protozoan pathogens using Illumina and Oxford Nanopore sequencing.

Keywords: Hybrid Genome Assembly; Illumina; Long read sequencing; Oxford Nanopore Technologies; Protozoan parasites; Trypanosoma cruzi; Trypanosomes.