diff --git a/utils.R b/utils.R
index 3bc52e8..83e24ae 100644
--- a/utils.R
+++ b/utils.R
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 library(knitr)
 library(kableExtra)
 library(dplyr)
+library(tidyr)
+library(rlang)
 library(stringr)
 
 ellipse_table <- function(df, nr = 5, nc = 5, format = "latex") {
@@ -59,7 +61,7 @@ ellipse_table <- function(df, nr = 5, nc = 5, format = "latex") {
     return(sub_df)
 }
 
-collapse_otu_at_taxo <- function(phylo_data, NArm = TRUE) {
+collapse_otu_at_taxo <- function(phylo_data, NArm = TRUE, renameOTUs = TRUE) {
     tax_ranks <- colnames(tax_table(phylo_data))
     tax_df <- tax_table(phylo_data)
     otu_tables_by_rank <- lapply(tax_ranks, function(rank) {
@@ -71,16 +73,69 @@ collapse_otu_at_taxo <- function(phylo_data, NArm = TRUE) {
             otu <- t(otu)
         }
         otu_matrix <- as.matrix(otu)
-        id_in_taxo <- match(rownames(otu_matrix), rownames(tax_df))
-        taxo_names <- tax_df[id_in_taxo, seq(which(tax_ranks == rank))] %>%
-            as.data.frame() %>%
-            mutate_if(.predicate = is_character, .funs = partial(str_replace_all, pattern = "-", replacement = ".")) %>%
-            unite(col = "tax_full", sep = "-") %>%
-            unique()
-        rownames(otu_matrix) <- as.vector(taxo_names[, 1])
-
+        if (renameOTUs) {
+            id_in_taxo <- match(rownames(otu_matrix), rownames(tax_df))
+            taxo_names <- tax_df[id_in_taxo, seq(which(tax_ranks == rank))] %>%
+                as.data.frame() %>%
+                mutate_if(.predicate = rlang::is_character, .funs = purrr::partial(str_replace_all, pattern = "-", replacement = ".")) %>%
+                tidyr::unite(col = "tax_full", sep = ";_;") %>%
+                unique()
+            rownames(otu_matrix) <- as.vector(taxo_names[, 1])
+        }
         return(otu_matrix)
     })
     names(otu_tables_by_rank) <- tax_ranks
     return(otu_tables_by_rank)
 }
+
+
+propagate_taus <- function(
+  tau_matrix,
+  physeq,
+  taxrank = phyloseq::rank_names(physeq)[1],
+  NArm = TRUE,
+  bad_empty = c(NA, "", " ", "\t")
+) {
+    if (is.null(phyloseq::access(physeq, "tax_table"))) {
+        stop("The tax_glom() function requires that physeq contain a taxonomyTable")
+    }
+    if (!taxrank[1] %in% phyloseq::rank_names(physeq)) {
+        stop("Bad taxrank argument. Must be among the values of rank_names(physeq)")
+    }
+    CN <- which(phyloseq::rank_names(physeq) %in% taxrank[1])
+    tax <- as(phyloseq::access(physeq, "tax_table"), "matrix")[, CN]
+    if (NArm) {
+        keep_species <- names(tax)[!(tax %in% bad_empty)]
+        physeq <- phyloseq::prune_taxa(keep_species, physeq)
+    }
+    tax <- as(phyloseq::access(physeq, "tax_table"), "matrix")[, 1:CN,
+        drop = FALSE
+    ]
+    tax <- apply(tax, 1, function(i) {
+        paste(i, sep = ";_;", collapse = ";_;")
+    })
+    tax_names <- unique(unname(tax))
+    spCliques <- tapply(names(tax), factor(tax), list)
+
+    old_tax_names <- rownames(tau_matrix)
+
+    nb_desc <- sapply(old_tax_names, function(name) length(grep(name, tax_names)))
+    cumsum_nb_desc <- cumsum(nb_desc)
+
+    nb_desc_tot <- sum(nb_desc)
+    new_tau <- matrix(0, nrow = nb_desc_tot, ncol = ncol(tau_matrix))
+
+    old_and_new <- lapply(old_tax_names, function(name) tax_names[grep(name, tax_names)])
+    names(old_and_new) <- old_tax_names
+    for (idx in seq_along(old_and_new)) {
+        old_taxa <- names(old_and_new)[[idx]]
+        if (idx == 1) {
+            old_idx <- 1
+        } else {
+            old_idx <- idx - 1
+        }
+        new_tau[cumsum_nb_desc[old_idx]:cumsum_nb_desc[idx], ] <- tau_matrix[old_taxa, ]
+    }
+    rownames(new_tau) <- tax_names
+    return(new_tau)
+}