Schema for Chains/Nets - Chain and Net Alignments
  Database: rn6    Primary Table: netMelGal5    Row Count: 320,055   Data last updated: 2017-01-18
Format description: Database representation of a net of alignments.
On download server: MariaDB table dump directory
fieldexampleSQL type info description
bin 587smallint(5) unsigned range Indexing field to speed chromosome range queries.
level 1int(10) unsigned range Level of alignment
tName chr1varchar(255) values Target chromosome
tStart 329097int(10) unsigned range Start on target
tEnd 329740int(10) unsigned range End on target
strand +char(1) values Orientation of query. + or -
qName chr1varchar(255) values Query chromosome
qStart 76009739int(10) unsigned range Start on query
qEnd 76010382int(10) unsigned range End on query
chainId 103306int(10) unsigned range Associated chain Id with alignment details
ali 575int(10) unsigned range Bases in gap-free alignments
score 11242double range Score - a number proportional to 100x matching bases
qOver -1int(11) range Overlap with parent gap on query side. -1 for undefined
qFar -1int(11) range Distance from parent gap on query side. -1 for undefined
qDup 643int(11) range Bases with two or more copies in query. -1 for undefined
type topvarchar(255) values Syntenic type: gap/top/syn/nonsyn/inv
tN 0int(11) range Unsequenced bases on target. -1 for undefined
qN 0int(11) range Unsequenced bases on query. -1 for undefined
tR 0int(11) range RepeatMasker bases on target. -1 for undefined
qR 48int(11) range RepeatMasker bases on query. -1 for undefined
tNewR -1int(11) range Lineage specific repeats on target. -1 for undefined
qNewR -1int(11) range Lineage specific repeats on query. -1 for undefined
tOldR -1int(11) range Bases of ancient repeats on target. -1 for undefined
qOldR -1int(11) range Bases of ancient repeats on query. -1 for undefined
tTrf 0int(11) range Bases of tandem repeats on target. -1 for undefined
qTrf 0int(11) range Bases of tandem repeats on query. -1 for undefined

Connected Tables and Joining Fields
        rn6.chainMelGal5.id (via netMelGal5.chainId)
      rn6.chainMelGal5Link.chainId (via netMelGal5.chainId)

Sample Rows
 
binleveltNametStarttEndstrandqNameqStartqEndchainIdaliscoreqOverqFarqDuptypetNqNtRqRtNewRqNewRtOldRqOldRtTrfqTrf
5871chr1329097329740+chr1760097397601038210330657511242-1-1643top00048-1-1-1-100
5872chr1329288329344+chr17600992876009994000-1-1-1gap0000-1-1-1-100
5871chr1352607353286+chr1116593568166006603891051321548-1-14307top000125-1-1-1-100
5872chr1352833352887+chr111659511216595873000-1-1-1gap0000-1-1-1-100
5872chr1353105353195+chr111659695716600571000-1-1-1gap00028-1-1-1-100
5871chr1353353355150-chr1116587868165977336905166570719-1-17104top0025161-1-1-1-1036
5872chr1354783354796-chr111658821016588210000-1-1-1gap00130-1-1-1-100
5881chr1408803409627+chr176009567760103918377979313100-1-1824top00048-1-1-1-100
5882chr1409166409176+chr17600992876009928000-1-1-1gap0000-1-1-1-100
5901chr1707192708016+chr176009567760103919161574512303-1-1824top00048-1-1-1-100

Note: all start coordinates in our database are 0-based, not 1-based. See explanation here.

Chains/Nets (vertebrateChainNet) Track Description
 

Description

Chain Track

The chain track shows alignments of rat (Jul. 2014 (RGSC 6.0/rn6)) to other genomes using a gap scoring system that allows longer gaps than traditional affine gap scoring systems. It can also tolerate gaps in both rat and the other genome simultaneously. These "double-sided" gaps can be caused by local inversions and overlapping deletions in both species.

The chain track displays boxes joined together by either single or double lines. The boxes represent aligning regions. Single lines indicate gaps that are largely due to a deletion in the other assembly or an insertion in the rat assembly. Double lines represent more complex gaps that involve substantial sequence in both species. This may result from inversions, overlapping deletions, an abundance of local mutation, or an unsequenced gap in one species. In cases where multiple chains align over a particular region of the other genome, the chains with single-lined gaps are often due to processed pseudogenes, while chains with double-lined gaps are more often due to paralogs and unprocessed pseudogenes.

In the "pack" and "full" display modes, the individual feature names indicate the chromosome, strand, and location (in thousands) of the match for each matching alignment.

Net Track

The net track shows the best rat/other chain for every part of the other genome. It is useful for finding orthologous regions and for studying genome rearrangement. The rat sequence used in this annotation is from the Jul. 2014 (RGSC 6.0/rn6) assembly.

Display Conventions and Configuration

Chain Track

By default, the chains to chromosome-based assemblies are colored based on which chromosome they map to in the aligning organism. To turn off the coloring, check the "off" button next to: Color track based on chromosome.

To display only the chains of one chromosome in the aligning organism, enter the name of that chromosome (e.g. chr4) in box next to: Filter by chromosome.

Net Track

In full display mode, the top-level (level 1) chains are the largest, highest-scoring chains that span this region. In many cases gaps exist in the top-level chain. When possible, these are filled in by other chains that are displayed at level 2. The gaps in level 2 chains may be filled by level 3 chains and so forth.

In the graphical display, the boxes represent ungapped alignments; the lines represent gaps. Click on a box to view detailed information about the chain as a whole; click on a line to display information about the gap. The detailed information is useful in determining the cause of the gap or, for lower level chains, the genomic rearrangement.

Individual items in the display are categorized as one of four types (other than gap):

  • Top - the best, longest match. Displayed on level 1.
  • Syn - line-ups on the same chromosome as the gap in the level above it.
  • Inv - a line-up on the same chromosome as the gap above it, but in the opposite orientation.
  • NonSyn - a match to a chromosome different from the gap in the level above.

Methods

Chain track

Transposons that have been inserted since the rat/other split were removed from the assemblies. The abbreviated genomes were aligned with lastz, and the transposons were added back in. The resulting alignments were converted into axt format using the lavToAxt program. The axt alignments were fed into axtChain, which organizes all alignments between a single rat chromosome and a single chromosome from the other genome into a group and creates a kd-tree out of the gapless subsections (blocks) of the alignments. A dynamic program was then run over the kd-trees to find the maximally scoring chains of these blocks.

See also: lastz parameters used in these alignments, and chain minimum score and gap parameters used in these alignments.

Net track

Chains were derived from lastz alignments, using the methods described on the chain tracks description pages, and sorted with the highest-scoring chains in the genome ranked first. The program chainNet was then used to place the chains one at a time, trimming them as necessary to fit into sections not already covered by a higher-scoring chain. During this process, a natural hierarchy emerged in which a chain that filled a gap in a higher-scoring chain was placed underneath that chain. The program netSyntenic was used to fill in information about the relationship between higher- and lower-level chains, such as whether a lower-level chain was syntenic or inverted relative to the higher-level chain. The program netClass was then used to fill in how much of the gaps and chains contained Ns (sequencing gaps) in one or both species and how much was filled with transposons inserted before and after the two organisms diverged.

Credits

Lastz (previously known as blastz) was developed at Pennsylvania State University by Minmei Hou, Scott Schwartz, Zheng Zhang, and Webb Miller with advice from Ross Hardison.

Lineage-specific repeats were identified by Arian Smit and his RepeatMasker program.

The axtChain program was developed at the University of California at Santa Cruz by Jim Kent with advice from Webb Miller and David Haussler.

The browser display and database storage of the chains and nets were created by Robert Baertsch and Jim Kent.

The chainNet, netSyntenic, and netClass programs were developed at the University of California Santa Cruz by Jim Kent.

References

Chiaromonte F, Yap VB, Miller W. Scoring pairwise genomic sequence alignments. Pac Symp Biocomput. 2002:115-26. PMID: 11928468

Kent WJ, Baertsch R, Hinrichs A, Miller W, Haussler D. Evolution's cauldron: duplication, deletion, and rearrangement in the mouse and human genomes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Sep 30;100(20):11484-9. PMID: 14500911; PMC: PMC208784

Schwartz S, Kent WJ, Smit A, Zhang Z, Baertsch R, Hardison RC, Haussler D, Miller W. Human-mouse alignments with BLASTZ. Genome Res. 2003 Jan;13(1):103-7. PMID: 12529312; PMC: PMC430961