Oxford Nanopore R10.4 long-read sequencing enables near-perfect bacterial genomes from pure cultures and metagenomes without short-read or reference polishing

Long-read Oxford Nanopore sequencing has democratized microbial genome sequencing and enables the recovery of highly contiguous microbial genomes from isolates or metagenomes. However, to obtain near-perfect genomes it has been necessary to include short-read polishing to correct insertions and deletions derived from homopolymer regions. Here, we show that Oxford Nanopore R10.4 can be used to generate near-perfect microbial genomes from isolates or metagenomes without shortread or reference polishing. ### Competing Interest Statement EAS, SMK, MA, RHK, and RWO are also employed at DNASense ApS. The remaining authors declare no conflict of interest.