Vsearch Search repeated errors, requesting help with parameter and inputs

Hi, I’m trying to use Vsearch search to find and retain reads that have 90% query coverage to a primer sequence. Every time I run this job, I get an error “This job was terminated because it used more memory than it was allocated.” I read the job and tool error help which says that this error is often due to the user inputs or tool parameters. I also tried to read the Vsearch manual which honestly felt like I was reading a foreign language. Unfortunately, I have extremely limited knowledge on this subject and I don’t know what I am doing wrong.

Can anyone please help me?

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Hi @dacosta

This tool uses very simple inputs, most in fasta format.

Expand the input datasets and if you do not see any warnings about a mismatched datatype, then the data is probably OK. You could also “redetect” the datatype to double-check (pencil icon > Edit Attributes > Datatype > Redetect datatype).

That said, it sounds like the job may be running out of resources due to the number of reads (probably memory resources during indexing). Downsampling/subsampling the reads is one option. Setting up a Galaxy server with more dedicated resources is another.

Using the latest version of the tool is also strongly recommended (check with the “Versions” pull-down menu at the top of the tool form).

For parameters: remove all filters, review the results (hits), then tune from there.

The Vsearch publication itself might be easier to interpret. Then the manual can be used as a specific reference. There is also a Google forum for this tool suite: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/vsearch-forum

The Galaxy metagenomics tutorials may also be a useful reference (although none cover this tool suite specifically!): https://training.galaxyproject.org/training-material/topics/metagenomics/

Thanks!

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Thank you @jennaj for your detailed reply, it was very helpful!

I have around 13 million reads so you are probably right about this being the reason why I keep getting this error. I’d like to keep all my reads so am now trying to run vsearch directly on my computer.

Thanks for all the additional resources I will check out the galaxy tutorials and refer to the Google forum if I need more help with vsearch.

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