InMut-finder: a software tool for insertion identification in mutagenesis using Nanopore long reads

Area of Science:

• Genomics
• Bioinformatics
• Molecular Biology

Background:

• Biological mutagens, like transposons, are essential for linking genotype and phenotype in reverse genetic studies.
• Accurate and efficient software is needed to identify insertion sites from sequencing data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a bioinformatics tool for identifying genome-wide insertion sites using long reads.
• To facilitate reverse genetic studies by accurately mapping insertions.

Main Methods:

• Developed InMut-Finder, a bioinformatics tool utilizing target and flanking sequences from long reads (e.g., Oxford Nanopore Sequencing).
• Applied InMut-Finder to analyze whole-genome DNA or enriched insertion-site DNA fragments from mutagenized Medicago truncatula and soybean.

Main Results:

• Successfully identified over 100 insertion sites in Medicago truncatula and soybean mutants.
• Validated insertion sites using PCR experiments, confirming the tool's accuracy.

Conclusions:

• InMut-Finder provides automated, efficient, and flexible insertion detection from Nanopore long reads.
• The tool is valuable for functional genomics, forward genetics, and reverse genetics research.
• InMut-Finder is OS-independent and available with source code and instructions.