This study demonstrates that a full or nearly complete viral genome can be assembled from the sRNA reads.
A step-wise, iterative anchored-assembly approach is the key to the successful assembly.
There still remain significant challenges in the reference-guided assembly of sRNAs into complete viral genome.
Further optimization of these parameters is expected to improve the assembly efficiency and accuracy. Incorporation of de novo assembled viral sequence fragments should aid the assembly of viral genomes that are divergent from known viral genomes.