MetaRank: a rank conversion scheme for comparative analysis of microbial community compositions

摘要

Motivation: Metagenomics involves sampling and studying the genetic materials in microbial communities. Several statistical methods have been proposed for comparative analysis of microbial community compositions. Most of the methods are based on the estimated abundances of taxonomic units or functional groups from metagenomic samples. However, such estimated abundances might deviate from the true abundances in habitats due to sampling biases and other systematic artifacts in metagenomic data processing.