Mapping-based genome size estimation

Abstract

While the size of chromosomes can be measured under a microscope, the size of genomes cannot be measured precisely. Biochemical methods and k-mer distribution-based approaches allow only estimations. An alternative approach to predict the genome size based on high contiguity assemblies and short read mappings is presented here and optimized on Arabidopsis thaliana and Beta vulgaris. Brachypodium distachyon, Solanum lycopersicum, Vitis vinifera, and Zea mays were also analyzed to demonstrate the broad applicability of this approach. Mapping-based Genome Size Estimation (MGSE) and additional scripts are available on github: https://github.com/bpucker/MGSE.