IG-28 enables identification and quantification of high-confidence isoforms from large bulk and single-cell full-length cDNA datasets

The technology to sequence full-length transcriptomes from bulk and single-cell samples has rapidly advanced. As a result, full-length cDNA datasets now reach billions of reads in size which is beyond the capability of most established isoform identification tools. Here, we introduce IG-28 which addresses this challenge with its capability to process and analyze large fl-cDNA datasets fast and using minimal computational resources. In contrast to its predecessor Mandalorion, IG-28 is not limited to bulk fl-cDNA but is capable of parsing, processing, and analyzing single-cell fl-cDNA datasets. It does so in a lightweight, flexible manner, integrating seamlessly with established scRNA-seq analysis workflows. We benchmarked IG-28 against a variety of established and new isoform identification tools using several bulk and a complex single-cell fl-cDNA dataset and found that IG-28 consistently outperformed the other tools by identifying high-confidence 'public' isoforms.