BOL: Related items

Scaffolding of a bacterial genome using MinION nanopore sequencing

Rahul Agarwal — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 16:59:25 -0500

Second generation sequencing has revolutionized genomic studies. However, most genomes contain repeated DNA elements that are longer than the read lengths achievable with typical sequencers, so the genomic order of several generated contigs cannot be easily resolved. A new generation of sequencers offering substantially longer reads is emerging, notably the Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) RS II system and the MinION system, released in early 2014 by Oxford Nanopore Technologies through an early access program.

Address of the bookmark: http://www.nature.com/srep/2015/150707/srep11996/full/srep11996.html

npScarf: real-time scaffolder using SPAdes contigs and Nanopore sequencing reads

Shruti Paniwala — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 05:14:57 -0500

npScarf (jsa.np.npscarf) is a program that connect contigs from a draft genomes to generate sequences that are closer to finish. These pipelines can run on a single laptop for microbial datasets. In real-time mode, it can be integrated with simple structural analyses such as gene ordering, plasmid forming.

Address of the bookmark: http://japsa.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tools/jsa.np.npscarf.html

Deepbinner: a signal-level demultiplexer for Oxford Nanopore reads

Jit — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 02:45:53 -0600

Deepbinner is a tool for demultiplexing barcoded Oxford Nanopore sequencing reads. It does this with a deep convolutional neural network classifier, using many of the architectural advances that have proven successful in image classification. Unlike other demultiplexers (e.g. Albacore and Porechop), Deepbinner identifies barcodes from the raw signal (a.k.a. squiggle) which gives it greater sensitivity and fewer unclassified reads.

Address of the bookmark: https://github.com/rrwick/Deepbinner

mrFAST: Micro Read Fast Alignment Search Tool

Neel — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 03:50:06 -0500

mrFAST is a read mapper that is designed to map short reads to reference genome with a special emphasis on the discovery of structural variation and segmental duplications. mrFAST maps short reads with respect to user defined error threshold, including indels up to 4+4 bp. This manual, describes how to choose the parameters and tune mrFAST with respect to the library settings. mrFAST is designed to find 'all' mappings for a given set of reads, however it can return one "best" map location if the relevant parameter is invoked.

More at http://mrfast.sourceforge.net/manual.html

Address of the bookmark: http://mrfast.sourceforge.net/manual.html

cutadapt

Radha Agarkar — Fri, 13 May 2016 04:54:50 -0500

Cutadapt finds and removes adapter sequences, primers, poly-A tails and other types of unwanted sequence from your high-throughput sequencing reads.

Cleaning your data in this way is often required: Reads from small-RNA sequencing contain the 3’ sequencing adapter because the read is longer than the molecule that is sequenced. Amplicon reads start with a primer sequence. Poly-A tails are useful for pulling out RNA from your sample, but often you don’t want them to be in your reads.

Cutadapt helps with these trimming tasks by finding the adapter or primer sequences in an error-tolerant way. It can also modify and filter reads in various ways. Adapter sequences can contain IUPAC wildcard characters. Also, paired-end reads and even colorspace data is supported. If you want, you can also just demultiplex your input data, without removing adapter sequences at all.

Cutadapt comes with an extensive suite of automated tests and is available under the terms of the MIT license.

If you use cutadapt, please cite DOI:10.14806/ej.17.1.200 .

Address of the bookmark: https://cutadapt.readthedocs.io/en/stable/installation.html#quickstart

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/

Phased Human Genome Assembly !

Rahul Nayak — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 09:10:54 -0500

The new publicly available assembly (PacBio HG00733) has the fewest gaps of any human genome assembly, with more than half of the genome contained in gapless sequence at least 27 Mb long. The primary contig assembly is 2.89 Gb long and consists of 865 contigs that were assembled with PacBio data generated with the company’s Sequel® System. Using the FALCON-Unzip assembler, maternal and paternal haplotypes were resolved over more than 80% of the genome. Maternal and paternal haplotype blocks were then further phased using Hi-C technology and the FALCON-Phase methoddeveloped in collaboration with Phase Genomics. The genome was then de novo scaffolded using Phase Genomics’ Proximo Hi-C platform, resulting in the first chromosome-scale diploid assembly of a single individual accomplished with only two technologies. More specific details about the assembly are included on the PacBio blog.

The data are available using NCBI accession IDs: BioProject: (PRJNA483067), assembly: [RBJD00000000] and sequence data (SRP155659).

Additional Resources

Interactive map showcasing global initiatives underway to generate reference-quality human genome assemblies for diverse populations
BioReport Podcast on the value of ethnic-specific reference genomes
Nature Reviews Genetics paper from NHGRI: Prioritizing diversity in human genomics research
Article in The Journal of Precision Medicine: “Minority Report – Ethnic Diversity and the Real Promise for Precision Medicine”
Article in Bio-IT World: “Genomic Data Standards Are a Necessity”
NHGRI Project Award: High Quality Human and Non-Human Primate Genome Assemblies

More details are available on the PacBio website:

Blog post: Data Release: Highest-Quality, Most Contiguous Individual Human Genome Assembly to Date
Blog post: For Reference-Grade Human Genome Assemblies, SMRT Sequencing Yields Optimal Results
Webinar: Assembling High-Quality Human Reference Genomes for Global Populations
FALCON-Phase press release and article preprint
PacBio research focus webpage about Human Population Genetics

Ref: https://stockguru.com/2018/10/08/pacific-biosciences-releases-highest-quality-most-contiguous-individual-human-genome-assembly-to-date/

The "Ifs" and "Buts" of NGS Quality Control and Trimming

BioStar — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 20:11:07 -0600

Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) has revolutionized biological research, providing vast amounts of data for a wide range of applications. However, the reliability of NGS analyses heavily depends on the quality of raw sequencing data. Quality control (QC) and trimming are critical preprocessing steps that can make or break your downstream analyses. In this blog, we explore the "ifs" (why you should perform QC and trimming) and the "buts" (challenges or considerations) of this vital step in NGS workflows.

The "Ifs" of NGS QC and Trimming

Ensures Data Integrity
If you want to minimize errors in downstream analyses, QC and trimming remove low-quality reads and bases, ensuring high-confidence data. This step is essential for reliable variant calling, assembly, and other applications.
Removes Contaminants
If adapter sequences or contaminants are present in the raw reads, trimming can eliminate them. This prevents issues like misalignment or incorrect biological interpretations, ensuring cleaner data for analysis.
Improves Mapping and Assembly
If your goal is better alignment to a reference genome or improved de novo assembly, trimming low-quality bases and adapters is critical. High-quality reads map more efficiently and generate more accurate assemblies.
Reduces Computational Load
If you want to save computational resources, trimming reduces the dataset size, which speeds up processing and analysis. Clean datasets mean less computational time spent on processing low-quality data.
Prepares for Standardized Analyses
If your project involves multiple datasets, QC and trimming ensure uniformity across them. This standardization makes comparisons valid and reproducible, particularly in large collaborative studies.

The "Buts" of NGS QC and Trimming

Risk of Over-Trimming
But excessive trimming can lead to the loss of informative sequences, reducing read depth and potentially discarding biologically relevant data. This is especially critical in studies with limited sequencing depth.
Bias Introduction
But trimming algorithms might introduce biases, especially if they inadvertently remove sequences with specific biological patterns. This can skew results and compromise biological insights.
Loss of Context in Paired-End Reads
But trimming one read in a pair more than the other can lead to loss of pairing information. This complicates downstream analyses that rely on paired-end data, such as structural variant detection.
Time and Resource Intensive
But running QC and trimming for large datasets can be computationally expensive and time-consuming. As sequencing depth increases, preprocessing becomes a bottleneck in the analysis pipeline.
Variable Standards
But the criteria for trimming (e.g., quality threshold, minimum read length) can vary between tools and datasets. This variability may affect reproducibility and comparability of results across studies.

Balancing the "Ifs" and "Buts"

To maximize the benefits of QC and trimming while mitigating the challenges, consider the following best practices:

Use QC Tools Wisely: Start with tools like FastQC to identify quality issues in your raw data. Visualizing quality metrics helps tailor your trimming parameters.
Choose Reliable Trimming Tools: Tools like Trimmomatic, Cutadapt, and BBduk offer adaptive and customizable trimming options. Select one that aligns with your dataset and project goals.
Set Reasonable Parameters: Avoid over-trimming by setting quality thresholds and minimum read lengths that balance data retention and quality improvement.
Test Downstream Effects: Validate the impact of QC and trimming on downstream analyses, such as alignment efficiency, variant calling accuracy, or assembly quality.
Document Your Workflow: Maintain detailed records of the parameters and tools used for QC and trimming. This ensures reproducibility and enables better troubleshooting.

Conclusion

NGS quality control and trimming are essential steps to ensure reliable and accurate data for analysis. While the "ifs" highlight the clear benefits of these steps, the "buts" remind us of the potential pitfalls. By adopting best practices and carefully balancing these considerations, you can optimize your preprocessing workflow and unlock the full potential of your sequencing data.

MitoHiFi: a python pipeline for mitochondrial genome assembly from PacBio high fidelity reads

Abhi — Tue, 05 Sep 2023 07:31:35 -0500

MitoHiFi v3.2 is a python pipeline distributed under MIT License !

MitoHiFi was first developed to assemble the mitogenomes for a wide range of species in the Darwin Tree of Life Project (DToL)

https://bmcbioinformatics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12859-023-05385-y

Address of the bookmark: https://github.com/marcelauliano/MitoHiFi

Steps to find palindrome in genomes !

BioStar — Thu, 09 Mar 2023 02:56:54 -0600

Palindromes are sequences of nucleotides that read the same backward as forward. They can be present in genomes and have various biological functions. Here are some methods for discovering palindromes in genomes:

Direct sequence search: One of the simplest ways to discover palindromes is to search the genome sequence directly for palindromic sequences using pattern matching tools, such as regular expressions or string algorithms. This approach can be useful for discovering simple palindromes, but may miss more complex palindromic structures.
Dot plot analysis: Dot plot analysis is a graphical method that can be used to identify palindromic regions in a genome. It involves plotting the genome sequence against itself and examining the diagonal patterns that emerge. Palindromic regions will appear as symmetrical patterns along the diagonal.
Restriction enzyme analysis: Some restriction enzymes, such as EcoRI and HindIII, recognize palindromic sequences and cleave DNA at these sites. By digesting the genome with these enzymes and examining the resulting fragments, palindromic regions can be identified.
Next-generation sequencing: High-throughput sequencing technologies, such as PacBio and Oxford Nanopore, can generate long reads that can span entire palindromic regions. By mapping these reads to the genome, palindromic regions can be identified and characterized.
Comparative genomics: Comparing the genomes of related species can also reveal palindromic regions that are conserved across evolutionarily divergent lineages. This approach can help identify functional palindromes that are under selective pressure.

Overall, the discovery of palindromic sequences in genomes can be accomplished using a variety of methods, each with their own advantages and limitations. A combination of these methods can provide a comprehensive understanding of the palindromic landscape of a genome.