Evaluation of genomic contamination detection tools: Assessing the influence of horizontal gene transfer on their efficiency through contamination simulations at various taxonomic ranks
Abstract
Genomic contamination poses a significant challenge in bioinformatics and genomics research, potentially skewing results and leading to erroneous conclusions. Various tools have been developed to detect contamination, but their efficacy can be influenced by factors such as Horizontal Gene Transfer (HGT) and taxonomic ranks. In this article, we evaluate genomic contamination detection tools and investigate how HGT impacts their efficiency through contamination simulations across different taxonomic ranks. Our findings shed light on the complexities of contamination detection and offer insights into improving these tools for more accurate genomic analyses.