Telomere length correlation estimated by qPCR and WGS.
Pearson correlations were used to quantify the relationship between
telomere length estimated using qPCR and WGS data. Telomere length
estimates from qPCR range between 2.06 to 0.67-fold change (Table S1).
Telomere length calculated using Computel, K-seek and TRIP were all
positively correlated with values calculated using qPCR (Fig 3).
However, calculations based on Computel (r = 0.66, p< 0.001, Fig. 3A) were more strongly correlated than those
observed for TRIP (r = 0.52, p < 0.001, Fig. 3B)
or K-seek (r = 0.50, p < 0.001, Fig. 3C).
Computel incorporates genome coverage into telomere length calculations,
suggesting that genome coverage might be important to telomere length
quantification. Indeed, after correcting for genome coverage in telomere
estimates using K-seek and TRIP, re-assessed correlations were greater
for both K-seek (r = 0.62, p < 0.001, Figure 4A)
and TRIP (r = 0.66, p < 0.001, Figure 4B).
Additionally, telomere estimates from K-seek and TRIP (Equation1) have a
strong correlation with genome coverage (r = 0.81). These results
point toward the importance of considering genome coverage when
calculating telomere length using WGS.