The META tool optimizes metagenomic analyses across sequencing platforms and classifiers.

A major challenge in the field of metagenomics is the selection of the correct combination of sequencing platform and downstream metagenomic analysis algorithm, or "classifier". Here, we present the Metagenomic Evaluation Tool Analyzer (META), which produces simulated data and facilitates platform and algorithm selection for any given metagenomic use case. META-generated read data are modular, scalable, and reflect user-defined community profiles, while the downstream analysis is done using a variety of metagenomic classifiers.