Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Microbial sequencing data are subject to sample-specific and species-specific distortions that complicate inference about true microbial abundances. Recent work established assumptions under which relative fold-differences in microbial abundances can be estimated from sequencing data, accompanied by an estimation and testing method called radEmu . While radEmu has excellent error rates, its computational cost can be prohibitive for large-scale analyses. Here we introduce fastEmu , a scalable approximation to radEmu ’s testing methodology. fastEmu uses a small, data-driven subset of taxa to approximate the computationally expensive test statistic. In a metagenomic analysis, we show a reduction in per-taxon runtime from 4-8 hours to 0.5-45 seconds, and simulations illustrate no adverse impact on estimation error or Type I error rate control. fastEmu enables testing differential abundance for thousands of microbial taxa while retaining clear parameter interpretation and error rate control.
Authors: Sarah Teichman, Amy D Willis
Institution: University of Washington
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7221171884