BOL: Related items

Tetra-Nucleotide Analysis

Jit — Thu, 04 May 2017 05:07:41 -0500

A tetra-nucleotide is a fragment of DNA sequence with 4 bases (e.g. AGTC or TTGG). Pride et al. (2003) showed that the frequency of tetra-nucleotides in bacterial genomes contain useful, albeit weak, phylogenetic signals. Even though tetra-nucleotide analysis (TNA) utilizes the information of whole genome, it is evident that it cannot replace other alignment-based phylogenetic methods such as OrthoANI or 16S rRNA phylogeny. However, TNA can be useful for phylogenetic characterization when whole genome or 16S rRNA gene information is not available. For example, a partial genomic fragment obtained from a metagenome can be identified by TNA (Teeling et al., 2004). TNA is also fast enough that it can be used as a search engine against a large genome database.

Address of the bookmark: https://chunlab.wordpress.com/tetra-nucleotide-analysis/

Genome in a Bottle (GIAB) Consortium

Jit — Sat, 25 Jan 2020 13:50:52 -0600

The Genome in a Bottle (GIAB) Consortium is a public-private-academic consortium hosted by NIST to develop the technical infrastructure (reference standards, reference methods, and reference data) to enable translation of whole human genome sequencing to clinical practice.

https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2016/09/nist-releases-new-family-standardized-genomes

Address of the bookmark: https://jimb.stanford.edu/giab/

SRF Bioinformatics job position in National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR)

Mon, 19 Sep 2016 05:43:38 -0500

SRF Bioinformatics job position in National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR)
Title : “Transcriptome and small RNA diversity analysis of developing seed contrasting rice varieties”
Qualification : Candidates having M.Sc./M.Tech. degree or equivalent (with minimum 60% marks) in Bioinformatics with a minimum of two years of post M.Sc./M.Tech research experience are eligible to apply.
No. of Post : 01
How to apply
Application should reach to Dr. Pinky Agarwal, Staff Scientist, National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR) Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, P.O. Box NO. 10531, New Delhi - 110067 on or before 30/09/2016

More at http://www.nipgr.res.in/careers/vacancies_latest.php#

CGView - Circular Genome Viewer

Jit — Mon, 19 Sep 2016 07:52:26 -0500

GView is a Java package used to display and navigate bacterial genomes. GView is useful for producing high-quality genome maps for use in publications and websites, or as a visualization tool in a sequence annotation pipeline. Users can interact with the genome using a powerful pan-and-zoom interface, or GView can write static images of a genome to a file. GView can draw a genome using either circular or linear layouts. For examples of some of the images GView can produce, see the Image Gallery. GView is a re-write of CGView, a circular genome viewer written by Paul Stothard. The goal of GView is to provide greater user interaction, and more flexibility in how the genome map is rendered. To aid with easily configuring the display of a genome, a style editor has been included to provide an intuitive, user-friendly graphical user interface for customizing genome maps. Styling attributes such as colours or fonts for the various map elements can be adjusted in real time. Customized styles can be saved for later use or for application to other genome maps using GView's custom file format.

Address of the bookmark: http://wishart.biology.ualberta.ca/cgview/

Large Language Models in Bioinformatics: Transforming Data Analysis and Interpretation

LEGE — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 11:26:29 -0600

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into bioinformatics has ushered in a new era of computational biology. Among the most transformative advancements are large language models (LLMs), such as GPT and BERT, which leverage deep learning to process and interpret vast amounts of text data. These models are reshaping bioinformatics by enhancing data analysis, hypothesis generation, and literature mining.

Understanding Large Language Models

LLMs are AI systems trained on extensive datasets of natural language. Their ability to model context, identify patterns, and generate coherent language has proven invaluable across domains, including bioinformatics. By fine-tuning these models on biological datasets, researchers can unlock insights into molecular biology, systems biology, and beyond.

Key Applications of LLMs in Bioinformatics

1. Annotating Biological Data

Annotating genomic and proteomic data is fundamental yet labor-intensive. LLMs streamline this process by extracting functional annotations from literature and databases, predicting gene and protein functions, and providing automated insights.

2. Mining Scientific Literature

The exponential growth of publications presents a challenge for researchers to stay updated. LLMs can process large volumes of text to extract key findings, summarize papers, and identify trends, thereby facilitating efficient literature reviews.

3. Predicting Gene and Protein Functions

By leveraging sequence data and annotations, LLMs can predict the functions of uncharacterized genes and proteins. This capability is particularly useful for studying non-model organisms and orphan genes.

4. Drug Discovery and Repurposing

LLMs enable pattern recognition across chemical, genomic, and clinical datasets, identifying novel drug candidates and repurposing existing drugs for new therapeutic targets. They can simulate interactions between drugs and biological molecules, accelerating the discovery pipeline.

5. Generating Hypotheses for Research

LLMs analyze complex datasets to propose testable hypotheses. For example, they can predict protein-protein interactions, identify regulatory motifs, or model evolutionary processes in genomes.

Advantages of LLMs in Bioinformatics

Scalability: LLMs process massive datasets rapidly, reducing the time required for data analysis.
Versatility: These models adapt to diverse bioinformatics tasks, from genomic annotation to network analysis.
Contextual Insights: By synthesizing information across disparate datasets, LLMs provide integrative insights into biological systems.

Challenges in Applying LLMs

Despite their promise, LLMs face limitations:

Data Quality and Bias: Inaccurate or biased datasets can affect model predictions, necessitating rigorous data curation.
Interpretability: Understanding the decision-making process of LLMs remains a critical challenge, especially in high-stakes fields like genomics and medicine.
Resource Intensity: Training and deploying LLMs require substantial computational power, which can limit accessibility.
Ethical Concerns: Handling sensitive genomic data raises privacy and security issues, emphasizing the need for ethical guidelines.

Future Prospects

The continued development of LLMs tailored for bioinformatics promises exciting advancements. Specialized models trained on omics data, open-access platforms, and interdisciplinary collaborations will expand the utility of LLMs. Moreover, integrating LLMs with other AI technologies, such as graph neural networks and reinforcement learning, can unlock deeper biological insights.

Conclusion

Large language models are revolutionizing bioinformatics by addressing longstanding challenges in data annotation, literature mining, and function prediction. Their ability to analyze complex biological datasets efficiently positions them as indispensable tools for modern research. As bioinformatics embraces AI, the synergy between LLMs and biological sciences holds the potential to unravel the complexities of life with unprecedented precision and scale.

BLAST Ring Image Generator (BRIG)

Anjana — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 09:18:50 -0500

BRIG is a free cross-platform (Windows/Mac/Unix) application that can display circular comparisons between a large number of genomes, with a focus on handling genome assembly data. The application is available at: http://sourceforge.net/projects/brig

If you have any questions or comments, post them on one of the trackers on BRIG’s SourceForge page: http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=328245.

Features:

Images show similarity between a central reference sequence and other sequences as concentric rings.
BRIG will perform all BLAST comparisons and file parsing automatically via a simple GUI.
Contig boundaries and read coverage can be displayed for draft genomes; customized graphs and annotations can be displayed.
Using a user-defined set of genes as input, BRIG can display gene presence, absence, truncation or sequence variation in a set of complete genomes, draft genomes or even raw, unassembled sequence data.
BRIG also accepts SAM-formatted read-mapping files enabling genomic regions present in unassembled sequence data from multiple samples to be compared simultaneously

Address of the bookmark: http://brig.sourceforge.net/

Nemo – A stochastic, individual-base, genetically explicit simulation platform

Jit — Sat, 01 Oct 2016 14:45:02 -0500

A recombination map has been added for all multi-locus traits. The map positions (chromosomal) for neutral markers (e.g. SNPs) and loci under selection (QTLs, deleterious mutations, DMIs) can now be specified explicitly, or set at random. The map can hold an unlimited number of loci of different types jointly, at any recombination scale (cM or lower). The effects of linkage can thus be finely explored.
A new trait coding for (Bateson-)Dobzhansky-Muller incompatibility loci. Multiple haploid or diploid pairs of incompatible loci can be spread throughout the genome and affect individual fitness.
Multi-type selection: Individual fitness can be jointly determined by different types of loci under selectinon, such as QTLs coding for quantitative traits under spatially variable selection, universally deleterious mutations, and Dobzhansky-Muller incompatibility loci.
An unlimited number of quantitative traits under different forms of selection can be modelled, based on universally pleiotropic loci with several bi- or multi-allelic models.
Spatial and temporal variation of selection on quantitative traits is possible, modelling shifts of environmental conditions over time.
The dispersal matrix describing the movement of individuals among sub-populations can be replaced by a connectivity matrix and a reduced dispersal matrix describing migration only among the connected sub-populations. This offers a substantial gain in computing time and system memory when simulating very large grids.
Input parameters' arguments may be specified in separate files. This is particularly convenient when specifying large matrices.
Many adjustments have been made for refined control of the input of parameters and data output. See updates in the manual.

Address of the bookmark: http://nemo2.sourceforge.net/index.html

kSNP3.0: SNP detection and phylogenetic analysis of genomes without genome alignment or reference genome

Jit — Fri, 08 Dec 2017 16:48:40 -0600

Sept. 20, 2017 Version 3.1 released. Major upgrade. Version 3.1 fixes the problems with SNP annotation that arose when NCBI discontinued use of GI numbers. Please read carefully the Preface (page 3) and the File of annotated genomes section (pages 9-10) in the version 3.1 User Guide. Thanks to Tom Slezak for revsing the get_genbank_file3 script and to Tod Stuber (USDA) for testing version 3.1 even though he doesn't need the annotation feature. All users are encouraged to upgrade to version 3.1.

Address of the bookmark: https://sourceforge.net/projects/ksnp/files/

MyPro: A seamless pipeline for automated prokaryotic genome assembly and annotation

Neel — Thu, 15 Dec 2016 05:47:35 -0600

MyPro is an improved genomics software pipeline for prokaryotic genomes. MyPro is user-friendly and requires minimal programming skills. High-quality prokaryotic genome assembly and annotation can be obtained with ease. It performed better than de novo assemblers and contig integration software. Produces more contiguous assemblies, higher N50 values and lower number of contigs.

More at https://sourceforge.net/projects/sb2nhri/files/MyPro/

Address of the bookmark: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167701215001207

coursera genome assembly tutorial

Jit — Sat, 25 Nov 2017 08:57:25 -0600

Solutions to Coursera Genome Sequencing (Bioinformatics II)

Address of the bookmark: https://github.com/iansealy/coursera-assembly