Detecting distant homologies on protozoans metabolic pathways using scientific workflows

Area of Science:

• Bioinformatics
• Genomics
• Computational Biology

Background:

• Bioinformatics experiments involve complex pipelines and large datasets.
• Workflow Management Systems (WfMS) offer a structured approach to managing these experiments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To discuss WfMS features for genome homology workflows.
• To present issues relevant to genomic experiments using WfMS.
• To evaluate WfMS for managing a real genomic pipeline.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Kepler WfMS to manage the OrthoSearch genomic pipeline.
• The OrthoSearch pipeline was originally a Perl script.
• Focused on detecting distant homologies in trypanomatids metabolic pathways.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated the benefits of WfMS compared to script languages for genomic data analysis.
• Successfully managed a real genomic pipeline using Kepler WfMS.
• Identified specific challenges for WfMS in distributed computing environments.

Conclusions:

• WfMS provide advantages over traditional scripting for bioinformatics workflows.
• Further development is needed to address challenges in distributed WfMS applications.
• The study highlights the utility of WfMS in genomic homology research.