This is the README file for the Bio::PSU Perl module distribution version 0.03
Bio::PSU - simple OO Perl modules for biological sequence analysis and
annotation
DESCRIPTION
The Bio::PSU modules are general purpose OO Perl libraries for
biological (DNA, RNA, protein) sequence and feature manipulation.
Features include:
Sequence IO
EMBL (including fuzzy ranges in feature locations)
Fasta
Sequence (DNA/RNA/protein) objects
Simple composition methods (residue count, codon count, MWt.)
Reverse-complementing (including treatment of attached features)
Subsequence extraction (including treatment of attached features)
Generic sequence feature objects
Access to feature keys and qualifiers
Access to feature sequence and translation
Simple composition methods (residue count, codon count, MWt.)
Search program output parsing
Lightweight BlastN/P/X (NCBI/WU, v1 & v2) parser
Fasta (-m 10 format) output parser
These modules will only recognise AC, ID, DE, OS, FT and SQ fields
from EMBL format files. Of these, AC, ID, DE and OS are simply stored
and never changed, unless this is done explicitly by the user. FT and
SQ are parsed and used to create objects.
The modules allow features without sequence as well as sequence
without features. They also respect feature tables without any ID
line. This is useful in situations where:
* You want to separate features into different files, but don't
want to store a copy of the same (possibly very large) sequence
in each file
* Your features are dissociated from the sequence, having been
created from coordinates indicated by a search program output
(e.g. Blast, Fasta, HMMER)
* Your sequence is already parsed by another program, such as
Artemis (http://www.sanger.ac.uk/Software/Artemis/), and you want
to provide it with some features to display
If you need full treatment of EMBL format, I suggest you use Bioperl
(see http://bio.perl.org).
To get an overview of the module organisation is may be useful to look
at my attempt at a class diagram in the doc directory (Gnome Dia and
PostScript formats).
Why did I write these modules?
As a learning exercise; they are my first attempt at any sort of
OO code.
Why not use Bioperl - remember the virtue of 'laziness'?
I used it for a while. It didn't quite do what I wanted, but I
couldn't understand the OO code well enough to make the changes I
needed.
The Bio::PSU modules are the result of my trying to learn OO
Perl. As they have proved useful to some people I thought I would
share them. Merging of functionality with Bioperl has been
discussed and may occur in the future.
Any comments or pointers are welcome.
A gzipped tar archive may be obtained from:
ftp://ftp.sanger.ac.uk/pub/pathogens/software/biopsuhttp://www.sanger.ac.uk/Users/kdj/Bio-PSU-0.03.tar.gz
INSTALLATION
Bio::PSU uses the standard Perl installation system:
perl Makefile.PL
make
make test
make install
At the moment there are some minimal tests included. These will be
added to when I have the time.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
These modules incorporate some ideas from Bioperl, but not much actual
code. Similarly, the Blast parsing code was inspired by Ian Korf's
BPlite modules (http://sapiens.wustl.edu/~ikorf). Code, ideas and
bug-fixes have been contributed by members of the Pathogen Sequencing
Unit at the Sanger Centre. I can also highly recommend 'Object
Oriented Perl' by Damian Conway.
DISCLAIMER
'PSU' stands for Pathogen Sequencing Unit, where I work, and
consequently where this code has seen some use. Note however, that
this is a personal project and therefore they are NOT endorsed in any
way by the Pathogen Sequencing Unit or the Sanger Centre.
These modules are provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. They
may be used, redistributed and/or modified under the same conditions
as Perl itself.
--
-= Keith James - kdj at sanger.ac.uk - http://www.sanger.ac.uk/Users/kdj =-
The Sanger Centre, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambs CB10 1SA
