RNASeq Expression Analysis with MacVector and Assembler

By Chris | Published: June 25, 2018

If you have the Assembler module, MacVector can align millions of NGS reads from RNASeq experiments against large genomes and generate a coverage table displaying the relative expression levels of every gene in a genome. The key to this functionality is that you must have a reference genome with genes annotated as CDS or gene […]

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How to split large fastq files for more manageable assemblies

By Chris | Published: June 25, 2018

We’ve previously discussed how important it can be to make sure you are using the appropriate number of fastq reads from an NGS experiment to ensure you obtain the results you are looking for. Using too many reads can confuse algorithms with the massive coverage increasing mis-assemblies due to background errors in the reads. In […]

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Balancing Velvet KMER and coverage

By Chris | Published: June 12, 2018

The Velvet assembly algorithm in MacVector is blazingly fast and generates excellent assemblies. However, you do have to be careful when assembling NGS data to be sure that the parameters you submit are appropriate for the data you are assembling in order to get optimal results. By far the most important parameter is the KMER […]

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Use a right-click in the Editor tab to see if your contig can be circularized

By Chris | Published: June 6, 2018

MacVector 16 incorporates no less than THREE different de novo assemblers, phrap, velvet and SPAdes. While all are great assemblers, with each having their own specific advantages, none of them will generate a circular sequence from input reads. However, MacVector 16 also includes a new feature to help you with this. If you are assembling […]

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An overview of assembling sequencing data with MacVector’s Assembler plugin

By Chris | Published: April 19, 2018

To assemble various types of sequencing reads, follow these steps. Choose File | New | Assembly Project to create a new empty project file. Then follow one of the following: To create a de novo assembly from Sanger reads Click on the Add Reads tool bar button, then select the sequence files you wish to […]

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Import Multi-Sequence Genbank Files into an Assembly Project for easy access to Features

By Chris | Published: April 19, 2018

There are many genomes in the Genbank database that cannot be downloaded as single annotated sequences. These might be large multi-chromosome eukaryotic genomes, but, increasingly, partially sequenced bacterial chromosomes where the major contigs have been annotated using the NCBI annotation pipeline. Typically, when you encounter these, there are options to download annotated versions of these […]

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RNASeq Expression Analysis with NGS data

By Chris | Published: December 20, 2017

If you have the Assembler module, MacVector can align millions of NGS reads from RNASeq experiments against large genomes and generate a coverage table displaying the relative expression levels of every gene in a genome. The key to this functionality is that you must have a reference genome with genes annotated as CDS or gene […]

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Use a right-click in the Contig Editor tab to see if your contig can be circularized

By Chris | Published: November 29, 2017

MacVector 16 incorporates no less than THREE different de novo assemblers, phrap, velvet and SPAdes. While all are great assemblers, with each having their own specific advantages, none of them will generate a circular sequence from input reads. However, MacVector 16 also includes a new feature to help you with this. If you are assembling […]

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101 things you (maybe) didn’t know about MacVector: #51 – Rapid assembly of genomes with Velvet and SPAdes

By Kevin | Published: November 13, 2017

Not so long ago, to assemble even a small genome with Next Generation Sequencing data required an array of clustered computers and a lot of patience. But improvements in algorithms and hardware mean that it is now realistic to assemble bacterial genomes, or even smaller eukaryotic genomes using MacVector on a modest laptop machine. MacVector […]

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Reference assembly with MacVector and Assembler

By Chris | Published: November 3, 2017

MacVector has a plugin module called Assembler that integrates directly into the main package and provides sequence assembly functionality. Assembler was designed from the ground up to be easy to use and allow users to easily manage the large amount of data that sequencing generates nowadays. The Assembler interface is built around the Assembly Project […]

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