RNA-Seq: a revolutionary tool for transcriptomics
How deep should we go?
(a)80% of yeast genes (genome size: ~120MB) were detected at 4 million uniquely mapped RNA-Seq reads, and coverage reaches a plateau afterwards despite the increasing sequencing depth. Expressed genes are defined as having at least four independent reads from a 50-bp window at the 3' end.
(b)The number of unique start sites detected starts to reach a plateau when the depth of sequencing reaches 80 million in two mouse transcriptomes. ES, embryonic stem cells; EB, embryonic body.
Nature Reviews Genetics 10, 57-63
coverage