Shotgun Metagenomics · Microbiome · Resistome

Microbiome &
Metagenomics

From a microbial community to actionable conclusions: which species are present, which genomes make it up, and which genes (resistance, virulence, function) they encode. Contract research with the rigor of a clinical lab, validated against certified reference material.

Applications in health research

Microbiome analysis powers translational research, intervention trials and pathogen characterization. We work as a research CRO; we do not issue regulated clinical diagnostics.

Microbiome & disease

Associate microbial species and functions with clinical phenotypes to uncover candidate biomarkers.

Intervention trials

Effect of probiotics, diet or drug on the microbiota: before/after and longitudinal analysis with statistics.

Pathogen characterization

Genome, strain typing and resistance of an isolate or of the community in a clinical sample.

Microbiota–drug axis

How the microbiota metabolizes or modulates treatment response (pharmacomicrobiomics).

Resistance surveillance (AMR)

Resistome of a patient or cohort: which resistance genes circulate and in which organisms.

Niche microbiome

Gut, oral, skin, vaginal or respiratory: niche-specific composition and function.

Not sure which approach fits your study?

We help you choose between read-based profiling, genome reconstruction or functional analysis based on your question and budget.

Book a consult →

Who's there, and in what proportion?

Species identification and abundance from shotgun sequencing, culture-free. Fast, sensitive and with expert noise filtering.

Composition & abundance

K-mer classification (Kraken2) and abundance re-estimation (Bracken): species table and percentages.

High specificity

Marker-gene confirmation (MetaPhlAn) to reduce false positives in species-level calls.

Comparative & longitudinal

Differential abundance between groups or timepoints (before/after, treatment) with statistics.

Diversity

Alpha and beta diversity indices, ordinations (PCoA) and community structure.

Interactive visualization

Navigable Krona charts and MultiQC report, plus CSV tables for your own analysis.

False-positive filtering

Expert criteria (relatedness, threshold, multi-method consensus) to separate real signal from database noise.

Profiling workflow

From raw FASTQ to species table and figures, with host DNA removal.

1
QC & cleanup

FastQC + fastp; quality trimming

2
Host removal

Remove human DNA

3
Classification

Kraken2 (+MetaPhlAn)

4
Abundance

Bracken

5
Report

Krona, MultiQC, statistics

ParameterDefault specification
TechnologyShotgun metagenomics (Illumina paired-end); 16S amplicon on request
Input formatsFASTQ (also BAM/CRAM); or reanalysis of public data (SRA/ENA)
ToolsKraken2 + Bracken + Krona; optional MetaPhlAn for high specificity
DeliverablesSpecies table (CSV), Krona charts, MultiQC and interpreted report (PDF)
ValidationPipeline validated against certified reference material (ATCC MSA-1003)

Have microbiome samples to profile?

Send us your FASTQ or a public accession; we return the composition with interpretation.

Start profiling →

Genomes from the metagenome (MAG)

De novo assembly and reconstruction of complete genomes of the community members, culture-free. Enables strain typing and reliable functional analysis.

De novo assembly

MEGAHIT and metaSPAdes to reconstruct contigs from the reads.

Multi-algorithm binning

Six binners (MetaBAT2, MaxBin2, CONCOCT, SemiBin2, COMEBin, MetaBinner) to group contigs into genomes.

Quality control (BUSCO)

Completeness and contamination of each genome per MIMAG standard.

Taxonomy & strain

GTDB-Tk + ANI identity: species and strain-level comparison.

Gene annotation

Prokka (Prodigal): gene catalogue, products, tRNA/rRNA.

High-quality genomesOptional

Bin refinement (DAS_Tool) and chimera detection (GUNC) for publication-grade genomes.

Want the genomes of your community?

We reconstruct, classify and annotate the genomes present in your sample.

Start reconstruction →

What can those genes do?

Screening of the genomes against curated databases to deliver real capabilities —resistance, virulence, biosynthesis— not gene-name predictions.

From "predicted" to confirmed: generic annotation generates noise; screening against curated databases (CARD, NCBI, VFDB, antiSMASH) returns defensible hits, normalized to a common vocabulary.
  • Antibiotic resistance (AMR): AMRFinderPlus + RGI/CARD + abricate, with normalized results
  • Virulence: screening against VFDB (toxins, adhesins, capsule…)
  • Functional potential: enzyme classes (EC), metabolic pathways
  • Discovery: biosynthetic gene clusters (antiSMASH) and antimicrobial peptides — candidate antibiotics
  • Plasmids and mobile elements: how resistance spreads

Resistome (AMR)

Confirmed resistance genes per genome and per antibiotic class.

Virulence (VFDB)

Confirmed virulence factors: toxins, adhesins, capsule, secretion.

Antimicrobial discoveryR&D

Mining of biosynthetic clusters and peptides: candidates against multidrug-resistant bugs.

Want the functional profile of your genomes?

Resistance, virulence and biosynthetic pathways, with confirmed data.

Start functional analysis →

Why Intusomics for microbiome

The microbiome challenge isn't producing a species list, it's knowing which ones to trust. We apply the rigor of a clinical lab to any sample: characterized limit of detection, false-positive filtering and full traceability.

  • Validated against certified reference material (ATCC MSA-1003)
  • Sensitivity and specificity measured, not estimated
  • Explicit per-species confidence criteria (threshold + consensus)
  • Functional analysis with curated databases, not name-based predictions
  • Reproducible, versioned nextflow pipelines (auditable)
  • Interpretation by a biomedically trained team
Validated
Against certified standard ATCC MSA-1003 (20 strains)
Nextflow
Reproducible, auditable pipelines (Nextflow)
Clinical rigor
The health standard applied to your sample

Ready for your microbiome project?

Tell us about your samples and question; we reply within 24–48 hours.

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