Long-read sequencing transcriptome quantification with lr-kallisto
Rebekah K. Loving, Delaney K. Sullivan, Fairlie Reese, Elisabeth Rebboah, Jasmine Sakr, Narges Rezaie, Heidi Yahan Liang, Ghassan Filimban, Shimako Kawauchi, A. Sina Booeshaghi, Páll Melsted, Conrad Oakes, Diane Trout, Brian A. Williams, Grant R. MacGregor, B Wold, A Mortazavi, Lior Pachter
Abstract
RNA abundance quantification has become routine and affordable thanks to high-throughput "short-read" technologies that provide accurate molecule counts at the gene level. Similarly accurate and affordable quantification of definitive full-length, transcript isoforms has remained a stubborn challenge, despite its obvious biological significance across a wide range of problems. "Long-read" sequencing platforms now produce data-types that can, in principle, drive routine definitive isoform quantification. However some particulars of contemporary long-read datatypes, together with isoform complexity and genetic variation, present bioinformatic challenges. We show here, using ONT data, that fast and accurate quantification of long-read data is possible and that it is improved by exome capture. To perform quantifications we developed lr-kallisto, which adapts the kallisto bulk and single-cell RNA-seq quantification methods for long-read technologies.