Table 1.

Representative next generation sequencing platforms and their characteristics

Platform	Run time (h)	Read length (bp)	Throughput per run (Mb)	Typical errors	Main biological applications	Company URL
Roche 454 FLX +	23	700, up to 1000	700	Insertions/deletions (indels) at homopolymer regions	Microbial genome sequencing, human genome sequencing, transcriptomics, metagenomics	http://www.my454.com/
Illumina HySeq 1000 MySeq 2000 V3	8 10	2 × 100 2 × 150	400000 < 600000	Indels, especially end of reads	Microbial genome sequencing, human genome sequencing, transcriptomics, metagenomics	http://www.illumina.com/systems.ilmn
SOLiD 4	12	50 × 35	71000	End of read substitution errors	Microbial genome sequencing, human genome sequencing, transcriptomics, metagenomics	http://www.appliedbiosystems.com/ absite/us/en/home.html
Ion torrent PGM 318 Chip	3	200	1000	Indels at homopolymer regions	Microbial genome sequencing, human genome sequencing, transcriptomics, metagenomics	http://www.iontorrent.com/
Pacific Biosciences				Random indel errors	Full-length transcriptomics, discovering large structural variants and haplotypes	http://www.pacificbiosciences.com/