Annotation of 16S rDNA identified bacteria

Question

[Mahnoor]

We all know that the 16S based identification of bacteria can only predict the taxonomic identification of a bacterial species. It only contains the conserved nucleotide sequences to identify the bacteria. My question is: "Is there any tool or bioinformatic-based pipeline to predict the presence of genes/enzymes/pathways in the bacteria that has been identified through 16S rDNA identification?"

Thanks!

Answer 1

[5heikki]

A simple google search would have answered your question, but yes, there are many such programs, e.g. picrust. Personally I don't trust such programs very much, but I guess they can reveal a general picture of sort..

Answer 2

[Mensur Dlakic]

If you are asking whether genes and pathways can be predicted by knowing only 16S rRNA sequences, the answer would be a resounding NO.

If you are asking whether those things can be predicted from a whole genome sequence, the answer is yes. Here are a couple of relatively recent examples:

• https://github.com/WrightonLabCSU/DRAM
• https://github.com/AnantharamanLab/METABOLIC