BOL: Related items

BIMA V3: an aligner customized for mate pair library sequencing

Abhimanyu Singh — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 15:20:00 -0600

Summary: Mate pair library sequencing is an effective and economical method for detecting genomic structural variants and chromosomal abnormalities. Unfortunately, the mapping and alignment of mate pair read pairs to a reference genome is a challenging and
time consuming process for most NGS alignment programs. Large insert sizes, introduction of library preparation protocol artifacts (biotin junction reads, paired-end read contamination, chimeras, etc.), and presence of structural variant breakpoints within reads increases mapping and alignment complexity. We describe an algorithm that is up to 20 times faster and 25% more accurate than popular NGS alignment programs when processing mate pair sequencing.
Availability: http://bioinformaticstools.mayo.edu/research/bima/
Contact: vasmatzis.george@mayo.edu

Address of the bookmark: http://bioinformatics.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/02/12/bioinformatics.btu078.full.pdf

GARM:Genome Assembly, Reconciliation and Merging

Jit — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 06:03:02 -0600

The pipeline is based mainly implemented using Perl scripts and modules and third-party open source software like the AMOS (Myers et al., 2000) and MUMmer (Kurtz et al., 2004) packages. The pipeline was tested on Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora and BioLinux distributions. The method merges contigs or scaffolds from different assemblers using the same or different sequencing technologies. When scaffolds are provided, a process of finding probable compressions or extensions (CE) problems in the assemblies can be per-formed; contigs are joined back into scaffolds after gap recalculation

Address of the bookmark: http://garm-meta-assem.sourceforge.net/

quickmerge: A simple and fast metassembler and assembly gap filler designed for long molecule based assemblies.

Jit — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 10:23:36 -0600

quickmerge uses a simple concept to improve contiguity of genome assemblies based on long molecule sequences, often with dramatic outcomes. The program uses information from assemblies made with illumina short reads and PacBio long reads to improve contiguities of an assembly generated with PacBio long reads alone. This is counterintuitive because illumina short reads are not typically considered to cover genomic regions which PacBio long reads cannot. Although we have not evaluated this program for assemblies generated with Oxford nanopore sequences, the program should work with ONP-assemblies too.

Address of the bookmark: https://github.com/mahulchak/quickmerge

Postdoc at UBritishColumbia in TroutGenomics

Thu, 22 Dec 2016 08:18:46 -0600

Landscape Genomics Postdoc at UBC A research team at the University of British Columbia’s Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Centre is seeking a postdoctoral researcher in landscape genetics of native rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

This project is part of a larger Genome Canada project on genetics and physiology of adaptation to climate change in rainbow trout, and the population genomics component is in the labs of Eric Taylor and Michael Whitlock. The landscape genomics component primarily involves whole genome sequencing approaches to understanding the genomic basis of adaptation to features of habitat, but also to provide insights into phylogeography and the influence of watershed structure on population subdivision in rainbow trout. A PhD in a related field with expertise in basic theory and bioinformatic analysis of population genomics data is required.

The position is available for one year with renewal for up to three additional years. Salary is $55,000 per year plus benefits. To apply, please send a brief cover letter summarizing your qualifications for the position, a CV, and the names, addresses, phone numbers and emails of three references.

Review of applications will begin January 16, 2017. Address application materials to etaylor@zoology.ubc.ca to whom any questions can also be addressed. etaylor@zoology.ubc.ca

Mauve: a system for constructing multiple genome alignments in the presence of large-scale evolutionary events such as rearrangement and inversion

Jit — Sat, 24 Dec 2016 09:20:53 -0600

Mauve is a system for constructing multiple genome alignments in the presence of large-scale evolutionary events such as rearrangement and inversion. Multiple genome alignments provide a basis for research into comparative genomics and the study of genome-wide evolutionary dynamics.

Mauve has been developed with the idea that a multiple genome aligner should require only modest computational resources. It employs algorithmic techniques that scale well in the lengths of sequences being aligned. For example, a pair of Y. pestis genomes can be aligned in under a minute, while a group of 9 divergent Enterobacterial genomes can be aligned in a few hours. However, the current algorithm’s compute time (progressiveMauve) scales cubically in the number of genomes to align, making it unsuitable for datasets containing more than 50-100 bacterial genomes.

Address of the bookmark: http://darlinglab.org/mauve/mauve.html

Progressive Cactus

Jit — Tue, 17 Jan 2017 03:40:06 -0600

v0.0 by Glenn Hickey (hickey@soe.ucsc.edu)

Progressive Cactus is a whole-genome alignment package.

Requirements

git
gcc 4.2 or newer
python 2.7
wget
64bit processor and build environment
150GB+ of memory on at least one machine when aligning mammal-sized genomes; less memory is needed for smaller genomes.
Parasol or SGE for cluster support.
750M disk space

Instructions

IMPORTANT NOTE: Progressive Cactus does not presently support installation into paths that contain spaces. Until this is resolved, you can use a softlink as a workaround: ln -s "path with spaces" "installation path without spaces"

In the parent directory of where you want Progressive Cactus installed:

git clone git://github.com/glennhickey/progressiveCactus.git
cd progressiveCactus
git pull
git submodule update --init
make

It is also convenient to add the location of progressiveCactus/bin to your PATH environment variable. In order to run the included tools (ex hal2maf) in the submodules/ directory structure, first source progressiveCactus/environment to load the installed environment.

If any errors occur during the build process, you are unlikely to be able to use the tool. Please submit a GitHub issue so we can help out: not only will you help yourself, but others who wish to use the tool as well.

Note that all dependencies are also built and included in the submodules/ directory. This increases the size and build time but greatly simplifies installation and version management. The installation does not create or modify any files outside the progressiveCactus/ directory.

Address of the bookmark: https://github.com/glennhickey/progressiveCactus

PANDASEQ

Shruti Paniwala — Mon, 23 Jan 2017 04:54:32 -0600

PANDASEQ assembles paired-end Illumina reads into sequences, trying to correct for errors and uncalled bases. The assembler reads two files in FASTQ format with quality information. If amplification primers were used (e.g., to isolate a variable region of the 16S gene, or the constant regions around zinc finger binding residues), they can be removed from the sequence during assembly. The final sequence will correct any uncalled bases in the overlapping region using the complementary strand. When mismatches occur in the overlapping region, the base with the better quality score is chosen.
The algorithm is as follows:

1.Find the positions where the forward and reverse primers match best above the threshold and discard the ends of the sequence, including the primer.
2.Pick and overlap to maximise the probability of the forward and reverse reads having come from a single piece of DNA.
3.Identify the masking of the end of the read with the quality score B or # as done by CASAVA and adjust the probabilities in this region.
4.Construct an assembled sequence between the primers and calculate the quality.
5.Check for various constraints, including quality, length, uncalled bases, and user-supplied modules.

http://neufeldserver.uwaterloo.ca/~apmasell/pandaseq_man1.html

Address of the bookmark: http://neufeldserver.uwaterloo.ca/~apmasell/pandaseq_man1.html

Open Positions in Pasini’s lab

Sat, 04 Feb 2017 08:17:18 -0600

Computational Biologists
Open to PhD-student and Post-doc candidates
We are looking for wet and computational biologists to work on an ERC funded project in our
laboratory located at the Department of Experimental Oncology of the European Institute of
Oncology in Milan (Italy). The project will focus on different aspects of the function of Polycomb
Group proteins and other chromatin modifying activities in relation to their role in regulating cellular
identity in the development of adult tissues.
The candidates will be in charge of computational analysis and data management related to the
project. She/he will directly interact with the wet scientists working in our laboratory while working
embedded in the community of computational biologists present at our institution. The work will
involve the analysis of sequencing data produced with cutting edge technologies to study gene
expression and chromatin environment including data produced on rare cell populations and single
cells. The applicants must have a good knowledge of programming in python/perl/java along with
strong statistical background and performing analysis in R platform. A biological background is
also recommended however it’s not mandatory for application.
Each applicant should submit a full CV (with a detailed description of her/his background,
expertise, achievements and publication records) together with a letter of intent and at least two
contacts for recommendations (for a post-doc position). Competitive salary will be offered based
on the experience of the candidate. Non Italian as well as Italian applicants that have been working
outside Italy (>3yrs.) will have the opportunity to benefit of a full tax deduction for the first three
years of contract.
Applications should be submitted as single PDF to diego.pasini@ieo.it

Lab https://www.ieo.it/en/RESEARCH/People/Researchers/Pasini-Diego/

Important Journals, Blogs and Forums for Bioinformaticians

Jit — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 09:15:31 -0600

Journals. Most journals have RSS feeds for their current updates.

Blogs. Some of these blogs are very relevant to bioinfo jobs. Others are more personal interest.

The OpenHelix Blog
Ensembl blog
Galaxy News
Blue Collar Bioinformatics
Homologus
Golden Helix - our 2 SNPs
Genomics Law Report
R-bloggers (aggregates feeds from >350 blogs about R)
Genomes Unzipped
Jason Moore's Epistasis Blog
23andMe - the Spitoon

Variance Explained: David Robinson’s blog (Data Scientist at Stack Overflow, works in R and Python).
Global Biodefense: News on pathogens, outbreaks, and preparedness, with periodic posts on genomics and bioinformatics-related developments and funding opportunities.
In between lines of code: Lex Nederbragt’s blog on biology, sequencing, bioinformatics, …
Simply Statistics: A statistics blog by Rafa Irizarry, Roger Peng, and Jeff Leek.
Bits of DNA: Reviews and commentary on computational biology by Lior Pachter (fair warning: dialogue here can get a bit heated!).
Blue Collar Bioinformatics: articles related tool validation and the open source bioinformatics community.
Microbiome Digest – Bik’s Picks: A daily digest of scientific microbiome papers, by Elisabeth Bik, Science Editor at uBiome.
Living in an Ivory Basement: Titus Brown’s blog on metagenomics, open science, testing, reproducibility, and programming.
Enseqlopedia: James Hadfield’s blog on all things NGS.
Epistasis Blog: Jason Moore’s computational biology blog.
RStudio Blog: announcements about new RStudio functionality, updates about the tidyverse, and more.
nextgenseek.com: Next-Gen Sequencing Blog covering new developments in NGS data & analysis.
RNA-Seq Blog: Transcriptome Research & Industry News.
The Allium: We all need a little humor in our lives. Like The Onion, but for science.

Forums.

JRF Bioinformatics job vacancies in Tezpur University

Tue, 14 Feb 2017 16:40:26 -0600

Memo No. DoRD/CSE/SSS/20-295/112-A Date: 01/02/2017

Project Title : Integrating genome scale metabolic analysis of model plant pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum with RNAseq and fluxomics

Essential qualification : M.Tech. in CSE/IT (With specialization in Computational Biology/Bioinformatics) or M.Sc. in Bioinformatics/Biosciences/Molecular Biology Biotechnology preferably with NET/GATE/BET. Candidates should have minimum 55 % mark both in 10th and 10+2 Science examinations and mathematics at 10+2 Science. Desirable: Preference will be given to the candidates having experience in computational analysis of genome sequences or similar projects.

No. of Post : 01

Remuneration : Rs. 25,000/- for the 1st two years and Rs. 28,000/- for the 3rd year for SRF and applicable to the candidate having post graduate degree in Basic Science with NET/GATE/BET qualification or post graduate degree in professional course. Rs. 12,000/- for the 1st two years and Rs. 14,000/- for the 3 rd year for SRF,

Age : 28 years

Duration : Three (03) years or till completion of the project or until further order, whichever is earlier.

Hiring Process : Walk - In
Job Role: Research/JRF/SRF

Walk-in-interview will be held on 17th February, 2017, 11.15 a.m. at the office of the Head, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Tezpur University.

Interested candidates may appear before the interview board with original documents from 10th standard onwards and photocopies of mark sheets, certificates, testimonials, caste certificate (if applicable), experience certificate certificates of NET/GATE/BET or similar examination qualifications, any other testimonials and a copy of recent curriculum vitae (CV) on the day of interview.

More at http://www.tezu.ernet.in/ProjectWalkin/Advt-DoRD-CSE-SSS-20-295-112-A.pdf