Sequencing depths

Sequencing depths — 16S Foundation™ and WGS Advanced™ compared

From 16S foundations to WGS — with metatranscriptomics as a planned layer — more resolution, without fragmenting your journey.

Sequencing depth sets what your report can responsibly say. This page explains the three methods so you can choose the right resolution for your goals — without over-reading any result.

Describes bacterial composition, diversity, and community-type context. It does not infer gene activity or expression.

Adds higher-resolution taxonomy and genomic functional-potential context — potential, not active expression.

Reads which microbial genes are switched on.

Metatranscriptomics looks at microbial RNA to describe which genes appear to be active, adding expression context on top of what WGS shows about genetic potential. It is a planned layer at VAMS BIOME and is not yet available. It describes expression context, not metabolite levels or medical conclusions.

Choose the right sequencing depth

Compare tests to see which depth fits your question, or explore the full range of tests.

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Concept, illustrated

What each sequencing depth observes

One sample, three ways of reading it. Each depth widens what is observed — and each has stated limits on what it cannot resolve.

One sample · three different questions

16S Foundation™

Question it answers

What is present, and how is the community structured?

Reads out

Marker-gene composition
Diversity measures
Ecological context

Cannot resolve

Species-level identity within closely related groups, such as Lactobacillus
Functional genes, which sit outside the marker region

WGS Advanced™

Question it answers

Which species are present, and what could the community do?

Reads out

Species-level structure
Gene content across genomes
Functional potential

Cannot resolve

Whether any annotated gene is actually being expressed
Organisms falling below the depth reached in a run

MetaT Functional™

Question it answers

What was being expressed when the sample was taken?

Reads out

Expression context at the sampled timepoint

Cannot resolve

Conditions before or after that timepoint
Genes present but not being transcribed at that moment

Not a ladder — no method supersedes another.

The three methods answer different questions and are not ranked against one another. Each has boundaries; the appropriate method depends on the question being asked. Order of presentation carries no meaning.

16S Foundation™

One region, read broadly across the community.

Marker region that is sequenced
Surrounding genome, not sequenced
One organism per row

Cannot resolve

Species-level identity within Lactobacillus and other close relatives
Functional genes, which sit outside the marker region

Answers composition, diversity and ecological context.

Conceptual illustration, not analytical output. Marker-gene sequencing reads one short region per organism across the community; positions and row counts are schematic.

WGS Advanced™

More of the genome, so gene content becomes visible.

Sequence covered across the genome
Annotated gene region — functional potential
Genome context not covered in this run

Cannot resolve

Whether an annotated gene is being expressed — presence is not activity
Organisms present below the depth reached in a given run

Answers species-level structure and functional potential.

Conceptual illustration, not analytical output. Coverage is drawn schematically; real coverage varies by organism, sample and depth.

MetaT Functional™

Expression context at the sampled timepoint — and only there.

Observed within the sampled window
Other moments — unobserved, not assumed unchanged

Cannot resolve

Whether the same pattern held before, or holds after, the sample
A stable trait of the person or the community — a timepoint is not a baseline

Answers what was being expressed when the sample was taken.

Conceptual illustration, not analytical output. Levels and lane counts are schematic; the sampled window is the only interval the method describes.