Sequencing accuracy and systematic errors of nanopore direct RNA sequencing

Abstract

Direct RNA sequencing (dRNA-seq) on the Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) platforms can produce reads covering up to full-length gene transcripts while containing decipherable information about RNA base modifications and poly-A tail lengths. Although many published studies have been exploring and expanding the potential of dRNA-seq, the sequencing accuracy and error patterns remain understudied. We present the first comprehensive evaluation of accuracy and systematic errors in dRNA-seq data from diverse species, as well as synthetic RNA. Deletions significantly outnumbered mismatches/insertions, while the median read accuracy exhibited species-level variation. In addition to homopolymer errors, we observed systematic biases across nucleotides and heteropolymeric motifs in all species. In general, cytosine/uracil-rich regions were more likely to be erroneous than guanines/adenines. Moreover, the systematic errors were strongly dependent on local sequence contexts. By examining raw signal data, we identified underlying signal-level features potentially associated with the error patterns. While read quality scores approximated error rates at base and read levels, failure to detect DNA adapters may lead to data loss. By comparing distinct basecallers, we reason that some sequencing errors are attributable to signal insufficiency rather than algorithmic (base-calling) artefacts. Lastly, we discuss the implications of such error patterns for downstream applications of dRNA-seq data.