Could the information of Line 3 in fastq file be deleted?

Question

[Cacau]

It seems that the third line of a sequence in a fastq formatted file may not matter. Could I just keep a '+' for Line 3?

Answer 1

[Peter]

Yes, you can, and in fact I would say you should remove the optional redundant information from the plus line. This is recommended to save space http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkp1137

Answer 2

[Renesh]

Yes you can do that to reduce the size of file.

[Renesh]

Do not delete 3rd line in fastq file, because most (all) of the tools accepts standard format i.e four lines for each record

[Cacau]

Thanks! So to keep a '+' is OK for Line 3?

[Devon Ryan]

Yes, you just need the plus sign, the remainder isn't needed.

[Cacau]

Thanks a lot!