Manananggal - a novel viewer for alternative splicing events

Area of Science:

• Molecular Biology
• Bioinformatics

Background:

• Alternative splicing (AS) is a key regulatory mechanism analyzed via RNA sequencing.
• Automated identification of alternative splicing events (ASEs) is prone to errors, necessitating validation.
• Existing visualization tools for ASEs have limitations in clarity and interactivity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an application, Manananggal, for improved identification and visualization of ASEs in next-generation sequencing data.
• To provide an interactive tool for visual inspection and a command-line option for ASE detection.

Main Methods:

• Development of the Manananggal application, featuring a web interface and a command-line tool.
• Comparative analysis of Manananggal's visualization against IGV sashimi plots, DEXSeq splicing plots, and SpliceSeq.
• Evaluation of Manananggal's performance in identifying and interpreting complex ASEs.

Main Results:

• Manananggal provides a practical solution for visualizing simple ASEs, comparable to sashimi plots.
• The tool highlights shortcomings of existing methods for highly complex genes.
• Manananggal's interface facilitates easier interpretation of complex alternative splicing events.

Conclusions:

• Manananggal offers unique functions for identifying ASEs, surpassing current tools.
• The application's ability to filter isoforms simplifies the interpretation of complex splicing.
• Manananggal preserves gene structure visualization, aiding in the determination of expressed isoforms.