Using ASV or OTU in 16s analysis

Hi,

I am new in microbiome studies. And I am confused of using OTU or ASV. I saw recent papers using ASV more but still wonder why some papers are still using OTU. Is there anyone trying both and have similar results? Which one do you prefer?

Thank you,

Dzung

Hi,

This is a pretty controversial area. I’m fairly pro-OTU and think there are significant risks to ASVs. People who push ASVs think they’re a one-size-fits-all solution to every problem… which is garbage. I’d encourage you to look at two papers my group recently published on this topic…

https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/msphere.00191-21

https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mbio.03161-21

Take care,
pat