MicrobiomeR: An R Package for Simplified and Standardized Microbiome Analysis Workflows

Abstract

The term “microbiome” refers to the microbial community in a given environment. In particular, it has recently risen to prominence in medicine to refer to the human oral, skin, urogenital, and digestive tract commensal bacterial communities. Modern technologies allow for the characterization of microbiome composition by high-throughput sequencing of 16S ribosomal DNA that effectively serves as identifying “bar codes”. Research studies focus on comparing differences in microbiomes between environments or changes within environments over time. To ensure study rigor and reproducibility it is important that data processing be clearly described and standardized. This package aims to unify the processing, analysis, and visualization tools necessary for modern microbiome studies under a transparent and straightforward implementation that facilitates standardization in analysis and reporting.