Related Experiment Videos
PHAST, PHASTER and PHASTEST: Tools for finding prophage in bacterial genomes
Briefings in Bioinformatics
|October 14, 2017
Summary
PHAST (PHAge Search Tool) and PHASTER (PHAge Search Tool - Enhanced Release) are key web tools for finding prophages in bacterial genomes. Future improvements will enhance phage identification capabilities.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Bioinformatics
- Genomics
Background:
- PHAST (PHAge Search Tool), introduced in 2011, rapidly became popular for identifying prophages in bacterial genomes due to its accessibility, ease of use, accuracy, and speed.
- PHASTER (PHAge Search Tool - Enhanced Release), launched in 2016, offered significant improvements over PHAST, including faster processing, larger databases, a modern interface, better graphics, and metagenomic support.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the capabilities of the PHAST and PHASTER web servers for prophage identification.
- To provide practical guidance on using these tools.
- To discuss potential future enhancements and the development of a successor tool, PHASTEST.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing web server functionalities and user feedback.
- Analysis of performance enhancements in PHASTER compared to PHAST.
- Discussion of ongoing developments in phage and prophage detection.
Main Results:
- PHAST and PHASTER are widely adopted web resources for prophage identification in bacterial genomes.
- PHASTER offers enhanced speed, database size, user interface, and metagenomic support compared to PHAST.
- Continuous development is leading to further improvements and a new successor tool, PHASTEST.
Conclusions:
- PHAST and PHASTER are invaluable tools for bacterial genomics research, facilitating prophage identification.
- Ongoing advancements aim to further improve the speed, accuracy, and scope of these phage search tools.
- The evolution towards PHASTEST signifies a commitment to staying at the forefront of automated phage and prophage detection.