What is MGnify?

MGnify is a free to use resource for analysis, visualisation and discovery of metagenomic, metatranscriptomic, amplicon and assembly datasets (Figure 1).

Microbiome research involves the study of the collective genetic material from micro-organisms within a specific environment. It aims to provide insights into microbial community structure, the processes that the community undertakes, and the complex interactions that may occur.

Microbiome research is a wide field, encompassing a range of study types that use high-throughput DNA sequencing to characterise microbial systems, including whole-genome shotgun (WGS) sequenced metagenomic and metatranscriptomic studies, as well as amplicon-based approaches, targeting specific marker genes (often rRNA genes) to provide taxonomic information. Typically, these studies involve the analysis of unassembled sequence data, although assembly is becoming more common as the rate of sequencing grows, and assembly algorithms improve. Assembly can be used to partially or fully reconstruct microbial genomes, or to allow full-length genes to be recovered from metagenomic shotgun data.

What can I do with MGnify?

• Submit microbiome studies (amplicon, metagenomic, metatranscriptomic or assembled data) for analysis, or request analysis of any publicly available data
• Explore a diverse range of analysed microbiome studies
• Visualise and download analysis results
• Access the raw data from the European Nucleotide Archive (ENA).

You can upload your own data for analysis using a web-based data submission system (Webin). This archives the sequence data in ENA, which is frequently a requirement for journal publication. Users can request to keep their data confidential prior to publication.