Aequatus

Aequatus visualizes homologous gene structures across multiple genomes to support analysis of gene family evolution and structural conservation.

Key Features:

• In-depth Visualization: Visualizes gene structures within gene families, displaying orthologous and paralogous relationships and supporting rendering and filtering of views based on specified criteria.
• Structural Analysis: Analyzes structural changes within genes, including conservation of ancestral exon boundaries across multiple genomes.
• Aequatus.js integration: Provides a reusable JavaScript module (Aequatus.js) for integration as a visualization plugin into the Galaxy platform and for use within the GeneSeqToFamily workflow.
• Ensembl data integration: Uses pre-calculated alignment and gene feature information from Ensembl Compara and Ensembl Core databases to drive analyses.

Scientific Applications:

• Phylogenetic Analysis: Aids interpretation of gene and gene family evolution, including identification of ancestral duplication events and regions potentially under selection.
• Gene Family Characterization: Enables identification and precise visualization of syntenic blocks and structural conservation to support studies of genomic architecture and evolutionary biology.

Methodology:

Aequatus relies on pre-calculated alignments and gene feature information from Ensembl Compara and Ensembl Core and uses that data to generate gene trees and analyze structural conservation across species.