Long description

Diagram explaining Metagenomics workflow. From top left, going clockwise:

Sample to DNA fragmentation: a bold arrow points from the word ‘Sample’ to a cluster of horizontal, multi-coloured lines (red, green, blue, yellow, black) representing fragmented strands of DNA.

Shotgun sequencing: an arrow points right toward an illustration of a laboratory genomic sequencing machine. A small box above the machine displays rows of raw genetic text characters (A, C, T, G).

Sequence(s) assembly: an arrow points down to perfectly aligned, sorted horizontal colour bars, representing the short reads being reconstructed into continuous sequences.

Identification (taxonomic assignment): an arrow points left toward a laptop computer displaying a globe icon. Surrounding the laptop are small illustrations of diverse biological organisms, including a green fish, a yellow worm, a black bacterium, and a red virus, signifying species identification.