Anvi’o: an advanced analysis and visualization platform for ‘omics data

TLDR

High‑throughput sequencing and omics technologies are revolutionizing studies of microbial communities, demanding interactive organization and visualization to resolve complex data. The authors present anvi'o, an advanced platform that automates and guides the characterization of microbial genomes in metagenomic assemblies while linking multi‑omics data into an intuitive display. Anvi'o implements an extensible visualization framework that distills multi‑dimensional contig information into a dynamic, unified environment, enabling re‑analysis of public datasets to track temporal genomic changes and link cultivar, single‑cell, metagenomic, and metatranscriptomic data. The open‑source platform empowers researchers lacking extensive bioinformatics skills to perform and communicate in‑depth analyses on large omics datasets.

Abstract

Advances in high-throughput sequencing and 'omics technologies are revolutionizing studies of naturally occurring microbial communities. Comprehensive investigations of microbial lifestyles require the ability to interactively organize and visualize genetic information and to incorporate subtle differences that enable greater resolution of complex data. Here we introduce anvi'o, an advanced analysis and visualization platform that offers automated and human-guided characterization of microbial genomes in metagenomic assemblies, with interactive interfaces that can link 'omics data from multiple sources into a single, intuitive display. Its extensible visualization approach distills multiple dimensions of information about each contig, offering a dynamic and unified work environment for data exploration, manipulation, and reporting. Using anvi'o, we re-analyzed publicly available datasets and explored temporal genomic changes within naturally occurring microbial populations through de novo characterization of single nucleotide variations, and linked cultivar and single-cell genomes with metagenomic and metatranscriptomic data. Anvi'o is an open-source platform that empowers researchers without extensive bioinformatics skills to perform and communicate in-depth analyses on large 'omics datasets.