Analyzing two different runs separately

Hi all, I am analyzing two different sequencing runs that do not align to the same start/end when aligned to the silva database. So running them together using the mothur SOP is not working. I wanted to merge the OTU tables but that doesn’t seem to be feasable either.

Ive decided to just switch gears and analyze them separately and compare. If I do this, does that mean I cant run beta diversity metrics or pcoa etc because theyre seperate runs? Or is there a way to compare them in mothur? Im primarily interested in understanding the change in diversity between the two batches.

My suggestion in these cases it to treat them as two separate datasets. Draw your inferences from each and then determine whether those inferences agree.

Pat