SINTAX: a simple non-Bayesian taxonomy classifier for 16S and ITS sequences

Metagenomics experiments often characterize microbial communities by sequencing the ribosomal 16S and ITS regions. Taxonomy prediction is a fundamental step in such studies. The SINTAX algorithm predicts taxonomy by using k-mer similarity to identify the top hit in a reference database and provides bootstrap confidence for all ranks in the prediction. SINTAX achieves comparable or better accuracy to the RDP Naive Bayesian Classifier with a simpler algorithm that does not require training. Most tested methods are shown to have high rates of over-classification errors where novel taxa are incorrectly predicted to have known names. peer-reviewed) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not . http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/074161 doi: bioRxiv preprint first posted online Sep. 9, 2016;