EasyCluster

EasyCluster produces gene-oriented clusters of Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) and Full-Length cDNAs (FL-cDNAs) using genomic sequences to support gene expression and alternative splicing analyses.

Key Features:

• High Accuracy: Demonstrates superior clustering performance supported by a manually curated benchmark of human EST clusters.
• Versatile Datasets: Tested on datasets including Unigene cluster Hs.122986 and ESTs from the human HOXA gene family.
• Comparison with Other Tools: Outperforms genome-based web services such as ASmodeler and BIPASS in clustering capabilities.

Scientific Applications:

• Gene-Oriented Clustering: Creation of gene-centered clusters of ESTs and FL-cDNAs for gene expression studies.
• Alternative Splicing Evaluation: Assessment of alternative splicing events from clustered transcripts.
• Plant Genomics: Compilation of gene-oriented clusters for Ricinus communis, a species lacking Unigene clusters.

Methodology:

Implemented in Python and clusters ESTs and FL-cDNAs by mapping them to genomic sequences to generate gene-oriented clusters.