BOL: Related items

RNA-seq Analysis Workshop Course Materials

Jit — Tue, 03 Jul 2018 08:14:14 -0500

RNAseq can be roughly divided into two "types": Reference genome-based - an assembled genome exists for a species for which an RNAseq experiment is performed. It allows reads to be aligned against the reference genome and significantly improves our ability to reconstruct transcripts. This category would obviously include humans and most model organisms but excludes the majority of truly biologically intereting species (e.g., Hyacinth macaw); Reference genome-free - no genome assembly for the species of interest is available. In this case one would need to assemble the reads into transcripts using de novo approaches. This type of RNAseq is as much of an art as well as science because assembly is heavily parameter-dependent and difficult to do well. In this lesson we will focus on the Reference genome-based type of RNA seq. http://chagall.med.cornell.edu/RNASEQcourse/

Address of the bookmark: http://chagall.med.cornell.edu/RNASEQcourse/

RNA-Seq Analysis: A Guide for Bioinformaticians

LEGE — Sat, 07 Dec 2024 22:22:24 -0600

RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) has revolutionized transcriptomics, offering unprecedented insights into gene expression, splicing, and transcript diversity. For bioinformaticians, RNA-Seq analysis is a gateway to exploring the complexity of RNA biology and its implications in health and disease. This blog post provides an overview of RNA-Seq analysis, key computational steps, and tools for bioinformaticians eager to delve into this powerful technique.

What is RNA-Seq?

RNA-Seq is a next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology used to study the transcriptome—the complete set of RNA molecules in a cell. It quantifies gene expression, detects novel transcripts, and captures alternative splicing events with high sensitivity and resolution.

Workflow for RNA-Seq Analysis

RNA-Seq analysis involves several stages, each requiring computational tools and expertise.

1. Experimental Design and Data Acquisition

Before diving into analysis, bioinformaticians should consider:

Biological Replicates: Ensure statistical power to detect meaningful differences.
Sequencing Depth: Align sequencing depth to study objectives (e.g., higher depth for low-abundance transcripts).
Paired-End vs. Single-End: Paired-end sequencing provides more detailed information on transcript structure.

Once sequencing is complete, raw data is provided in FASTQ format, containing sequence reads and quality scores.

2. Quality Control and Preprocessing

Quality control (QC) ensures data integrity. Tools such as FastQC evaluate metrics like base quality, GC content, and adapter contamination.

Preprocessing Steps:

Trimming: Tools like Trimmomatic or Cutadapt remove low-quality bases and adapter sequences.
Filtering: Discard reads below a certain quality threshold or length.

3. Read Alignment

Reads are mapped to a reference genome or transcriptome to determine their origin. Alignment tools include:

HISAT2: Handles large genomes efficiently and supports spliced alignments.
STAR: High-speed aligner optimized for RNA-Seq.
Bowtie2: Suitable for short-read alignment.

Output: A SAM/BAM file containing aligned reads.

4. Transcript Assembly and Quantification

This step involves identifying transcripts and quantifying their expression levels. Tools used include:

StringTie: Assembles and quantifies transcripts from aligned reads.
Salmon/Kallisto: Perform pseudo-alignment for rapid and accurate quantification.

Expression levels are typically measured as TPM (transcripts per million) or FPKM (fragments per kilobase of transcript per million mapped reads).

5. Differential Expression Analysis

To identify genes with altered expression between conditions, bioinformaticians use tools such as:

DESeq2: Accounts for data normalization and variability.
edgeR: Handles overdispersed count data efficiently.
Limma-voom: Combines linear modeling with RNA-Seq count data.

The output includes a list of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with statistical significance and fold-change values.

6. Functional Annotation and Pathway Analysis

Understanding the biological significance of DEGs involves:

Gene Ontology (GO) Analysis: Tools like DAVID or clusterProfiler categorize genes based on their biological functions.
Pathway Enrichment Analysis: Identifies pathways enriched in DEGs using tools like KEGG, Reactome, or GSEA.

7. Visualization

Visualizing results enhances interpretability. Common visualizations include:

Heatmaps: Show expression patterns across samples (e.g., pheatmap).
Volcano Plots: Highlight significant DEGs (e.g., ggplot2).
PCA/UMAP: Assess sample clustering and variability (e.g., Seurat).

Challenges in RNA-Seq Analysis

Batch Effects: Technical variability can confound biological signals. Combat this with normalization techniques or batch-correction tools like ComBat.
Low-Quality Samples: Poor-quality RNA impacts downstream analyses.
Computational Complexity: RNA-Seq generates massive datasets, requiring robust computing resources and optimized pipelines.

Key Tools and Resources

Bioconductor: A treasure trove of R packages for RNA-Seq analysis.
Galaxy: A web-based platform for running RNA-Seq workflows.
Nextflow/Snakemake: Workflow management tools to streamline analyses.

Applications of RNA-Seq

RNA-Seq is used in diverse research areas, including:

Cancer Transcriptomics: Identifying tumor-specific expression profiles.
Developmental Biology: Studying dynamic transcriptome changes.
Drug Discovery: Screening genes modulated by therapeutic compounds.

Conclusion

RNA-Seq analysis is a cornerstone of modern transcriptomics, offering bioinformaticians a versatile toolkit for unraveling gene expression and regulation. Mastering RNA-Seq workflows and tools empowers researchers to transform raw sequencing data into biological discoveries.

Whether you’re investigating disease mechanisms, exploring cellular pathways, or developing new therapeutics, RNA-Seq is a powerful ally in your bioinformatics arsenal.

Strudel

Anjana — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 09:47:02 -0500

Strudel is our graphical tool for visualizing genetic and physical maps of genomes for comparative purposes. The application aims to let the user examine their data at a variety of different levels of resolution, from entire maps to individual markers, and explore syntenic relationships between genomes. All browsing and interaction with Strudel happens in real-time – there is no need to wait while the maps are generated. It is built using Java 1.6 and ships with its own JRE, so there is no need for users to install or update Java.

Address of the bookmark: https://ics.hutton.ac.uk/strudel/

Bioinformatics tools developed for Oxford Nanopore data analysis !

biogeek — Wed, 27 Dec 2017 20:47:30 -0600

MinION is the only portable real-time device for DNA and RNA sequencing. Each consumable flow cell can now generate 10–20 Gb of DNA sequence data. Ultra-long read lengths are possible (hundreds of kb) as you can choose your fragment length. One of the technical advantages of ONT data is the read length, which offers great prospects for genome assembly. Generally, assemblers are based on several different types of algorithms, such as greedy, overlap-layout-consensus (OLC), de Bruijn graph (DBG), and string graph.

List of analysis tools developed for Oxford Nanopore data

BWA
Fast nanopore data tuned alignment tool
https://github.com/lh3/bwa

GraphMap
Mapper for long and error-prone reads
https://github.com/isovic/graphmap

LAST
Nanopore tuned alignment tool
http://last.cbrc.jp/

LINKS
Software tool for long read scaffolding
https://github.com/warrenlr/LINKS/

marginAlign
Tools to align nanopore reads to a reference
https://github.com/benedictpaten/marginAlign

minoTour
Real time analysis tools
http://minotour.nottingham.ac.uk/

nanoCORR
Error-correction tool for nanopore sequence data
https://github.com/jgurtowski/nanocorr

NanoOK
Software for nanopore data, quality and error profiles
https://documentation.tgac.ac.uk/display/NANOOK/NanoOK

Nanopolish
Nanopore analysis and genome assembly software
https://github.com/jts/nanopolish

nanopore
Variant-detection tool for nanopore sequence data
https://github.com/mitenjain/nanopore

Nanocorrect
Error-correction tool for nanopore sequence data
https://github.com/jts/nanocorrect/

npReader
Real-time conversion and analysis of nanopore reads
https://github.com/mdcao/npReader

poRe
Tool for analyzing and visualizing nanopore data
https://sourceforge.net/p/rpore/wiki/Home/

PoreSeq
Error-correction and variant-calling software
https://github.com/tszalay/poreseq

Poretools
Nanopore sequence analysis and visualization software
https://github.com/arq5x/poretools

SSPACE-LongRead
Genome scaffolding tool
http://www.baseclear.com/genomics/bioinformatics/basetools/SSPACE-longread

SMIS
Genome scaffolding tool
https://sourceforge.net/projects/phusion2/files/smis/

List of assemblers for Oxford Nanopore MinION long reads

LQS
DALIGNER, Celera OLC Nanocorrect,
Nanopolish corrector
https://github.com/jts/nanopolish

PBcR
HGAP or BLASR, Celera OLC
PBcR corrector
http://wgs-assembler.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/PBcR
–
Canu
MHAP, Celera OLC
Canu corrector
https://github.com/marbl/canu

Falcon
String graph, Celera OLC
Falcon corrector
https://github.com/PacificBiosciences/falcon

Miniasm
OLC
https://github.com/lh3/miniasm

ra-integrate
OLC
https://github.com/mariokostelac/ra-integrate/

ALLPATHS-LG
de Bruijn graph
ALLPATHS-L corrector
https://www.broadinstitute.org/software/allpaths-lg/blog/?page_id=12

SPAdes
de Bruijn graph
SPAdes corrector
http://bioinf.spbau.ru/spades

GenomeTools: The versatile open source genome analysis software

Jit — Wed, 07 Feb 2018 10:44:18 -0600

The GenomeTools genome analysis system is a free collection of bioinformatics tools (in the realm of genome informatics) combined into a single binary named gt. It is based on a C library named “libgenometools” which consists of several modules.

If you are interested in gene prediction, have a look at GenomeThreader.

Address of the bookmark: http://genometools.org/

ART: Set of Simulation Tools

Jit — Thu, 03 Nov 2016 08:28:25 -0500

ART is a set of simulation tools to generate synthetic next-generation sequencing reads. ART simulates sequencing reads by mimicking real sequencing process with empirical error models or quality profiles summarized from large recalibrated sequencing data. ART can also simulate reads using user own read error model or quality profiles. ART supports simulation of single-end, paired-end/mate-pair reads of three major commercial next-generation sequencing platforms: Illumina's Solexa, Roche's 454 and Applied Biosystems' SOLiD. ART can be used to test or benchmark a variety of method or tools for next-generation sequencing data analysis, including read alignment, de novo assembly, SNP and structure variation discovery. ART was used as a primary tool for the simulation study of the 1000 Genomes Project . ART is implemented in C++ with optimized algorithms and is highly efficient in read simulation. ART outputs reads in the FASTQ format, and alignments in the ALN format. ART can also generate alignments in the SAM alignment or UCSC BED file format. ART can be used together with genome variants simulators (e.g. VarSim) for evaluating variant calling tools or methods.

Address of the bookmark: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/resources/software/biostatistics/art/

Troyanskaya Lab

Tue, 04 Feb 2020 06:40:36 -0600

The goal of our research is to interpret and distill this complexity through accurate analysis and modeling of molecular pathways, particularly those in which malfunctions lead to the manifestation of disease. We are inventing integrative methods for systems-level pathway modeling through integrative analysis of genome-scale datasets. We apply these approaches in studying challenging biological problems, such as how pathways function in diverse cell types and how they change dynamically.

https://function.princeton.edu/

SHAMAN: a user-friendly website for metataxonomic analysis from raw reads to statistical analysis

BioStar — Mon, 17 Aug 2020 05:21:09 -0500

SHAMAN is a shiny application for differential analysis of metagenomic data (16S, 18S, 23S, 28S, ITS and WGS) including bioinformatics treatment of raw reads for targeted metagenomics, statistical analysis and results visualization with a large variety of plots (barplot, boxplot, heatmap, …).
The bioinformatics treatment is based on Vsearch [Rognes 2016] which showed to be both accurate and fast [Wescott 2015].The statistical analysis is based on DESeq2 R package [Anders and Huber 2010] which robustly identifies the differential abundant features as suggested in [McMurdie and Holmes 2014] and [Jonsson2016]. SHAMAN robustly identifies the differential abundant genera with the Generalized Linear Model implemented in DESeq2 [Love 2014].
SHAMAN is compatible with standard formats for metagenomic analysis (.csv, .tsv, .biom) and figures can be downloaded in several formats. A presentation about SHAMAN is available here and a poster here.

More at https://bmcbioinformatics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12859-020-03666-4

Address of the bookmark: https://github.com/aghozlane/shaman

Finding Patterns in Biological Sequences

Jit — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 10:30:49 -0600

In this report we provide an overview of known techniques for discovery of patterns of biological sequences (DNA and proteins). We also provide biological motivation, and methods of biological verification of such patterns. Finally we list publicly available tools and databases for pattern discovery. On-line supplement is available through http://genetics.uwaterloo.ca/∼tvinar/cs798g/motif.

Address of the bookmark: http://engr.case.edu/li_jing/papers/00798gpattern.pdf

YAHA

Jit — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 05:38:05 -0600

YAHA, a fast and flexible hash-based aligner. YAHA is as fast and accurate as BWA-SW at finding the single best alignment per query and is dramatically faster and more sensitive than both SSAHA2 and MegaBLAST at finding all possible alignments. Unlike other aligners that report all, or one, alignment per query, or that use simple heuristics to select alignments, YAHA uses a directed acyclic graph to find the optimal set of alignments that cover a query using a biologically relevant breakpoint penalty. YAHA can also report multiple mappings per defined segment of the query. We show that YAHA detects more breakpoints in less time than BWA-SW across all SV classes, and especially excels at complex SVs comprising multiple breakpoints.

Availability: YAHA is currently supported on 64-bit Linux systems. Binaries and sample data are freely available for download from http://faculty.virginia.edu/irahall/YAHA.

Contact:

http://genome.wustl.edu/people/groups/detail/hall-lab/

Address of the bookmark: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3463118/