Scalable metagenomics alignment research tool (SMART): A scalable, rapid, and complete search heuristic for the classification of metagenomic sequences from complex sequence populations

Next generation sequencing technology has enabled characterization of metagenomics through massively parallel genomic DNA sequencing. The complexity and diversity of environmental samples such as the human gut microflora, combined with the sustained exponential growth in sequencing capacity, has led to the challenge of identifying microbial organisms by DNA sequence.