Vertools

ProgramSummaryUsed for
alphcontDNA alphabet content reporting.Getting base composition values (e.g. %GC, runs of bases). Numbers can be used for filtering or as features for sequence analysis.
blastoutBLAST output parserExtracting seqs, coords, scores. Compiling alignments into metrics (e.g. specificity screens)
comp_seqComparing sequences using simple alignments.Evaluating various similarity, complementarity metrics between primers, probes, etc. Used for oligo design and QC.
dna_utilSequence slicing and dicing. Includes complexity metrics.Sequence manipulations (e.g. rev comp, reformatting, masking, probe tiling, etc). Complexity metrics useful for filtering and sequence analysis.
filterSimple line-based numerical filter.Extracting subsets of sequence or data files with specific values.
gen_seqGenerate sequences.Constructing enumerated or random sequence sets, with optional composition constraints. Sequences can serve as starting points for probe or index designs.
numstatSimple line-based numerical stats tool.Quick evaluation of numbers (e.g. mean, sd, percentiles, etc). Includes text-based histogram plotting.
pick_seqSelect sequence subsets, minimizing pairwise metrics.Selecting orthogonal sequence sets, for example indexes or hybridization probes. Can separately weight similarity, complementarity metrics. Simple or Hamming alignments.
scoretabData table and number manipulations.Manipulating data tables (e.g. bounding, scaling, subset extraction, etc.). Generating scores from values (e.g. map oligo Tm to range 0-1 via transfer function). Includes genetic algorithm operators.
seqtweakModify input sequences.Introducing "mutations" into supplied sequences. Can randomly or systematically introduce SNVs and/or InDels. This is useful for simulations and some design tasks.
tm_utilThermodynamic calculator, including extraction of sub-seqs.Calculates Tm, dG, fraction hybridized using various nearest neighbor models. Useful for extracting candidate oligos with specific thermodynamic properties (e.g. lengh 15-25 and Tm 60-62).
venpipeWrapper for secondary structure and energy calculations.Wraps Vienna package folding code, reporting oligo structure(s) and energy(s). Used for oligo design and QC.
wordfreqTallies DNA words (n-mers). Includes word-based scoring.Tallying n-mers. Frequency tables derived from genomes, sequence libraries, etc. are useful to investigate uniformity or biases, and may be used to score novel sequences.