ALTER

ALTER converts multiple sequence alignments between formats used by bioinformatics software while supporting sequence deduplication and programmatic access for automated workflows.

Key Features:

• Alignment Format Conversion: Transforms multiple sequence alignments into formats compatible with commonly used bioinformatics analysis tools.
• Sequence Deduplication: Detects and removes identical sequences during alignment conversion to reduce redundancy in datasets.
• REST Web Service API: Provides a Representational State Transfer (REST) API to enable integration of alignment conversion into automated analysis pipelines.

Scientific Applications:

• Comparative Genomics: Converts alignment formats to enable interoperability among bioinformatics tools used for genome comparison.
• Evolutionary Sequence Analysis: Prepares multiple sequence alignments for phylogenetic and evolutionary studies.
• Functional Annotation Workflows: Facilitates preparation of alignment datasets for downstream bioinformatics analyses.

Methodology:

ALTER converts multiple sequence alignments according to the format specifications of various bioinformatics programs and removes duplicate sequences during the conversion process.