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Systematic, sequence similarity search-based genome screening is a powerful approach for identifying and characterising genome features in silico. This approach extends the basic sequence similarity search by:
- Performing multiple searches systematically, involving various query sequences and/or target databases.
- Classifying “hits” (matching sequences) via comparison to a reference sequence library curated by the investigator.
Database-integrated genome screening (DIGS) is a form of systematic genome screening in which a sequence similarity search-based screening pipeline is linked to a relational database management system (RDBMS). This provides a robust foundation for implementing large-scale, automated screens, and enables a 'database querying' approach to investigating screening output.
The DIGS Tool is a software framework for implementing DIGS on UNIX/LINUX and Macintosh OSX platforms. The program is accessible through a text-based console interface. It uses the BLAST+ program suite to perform similarity search-based screening, and the MySQL RDBMS to capture screen output.