Panakeia - a universal tool for bacterial pangenome analysis

Abstract

Abstract Background Development of new pan-genome analysis tools is important, as the pangenome of a microbial species has become an important method to define the diversity of a selected taxon, most commonly a species, in the last years. This enables comparison of strains from different ecological niches and can be used to define the functional potential in a bacterial population. It gives us a much better view of microbial genomics than can be gained from singular genomes which after all are just single representatives of a much more varied population. Results We present Panakeia, a tool which strives to be easy to use and providing a detailed view of the pangenome structure which can efficiently be utilised for discovery, or further in-depth analysis, of features of interest. It analyses synteny and multiple structural patterns of the pangenome, giving insights into the biological diversity and evolution of the studied taxon. Panakeia hence provides both broad and detailed information on the structure of a pangenome, for diverse and highly clonal populations of bacteria. Conclusions Previously published pangenome tools often reduce the information to a presence/absence matrix of unconnected genes or generate massive hard to interpret output graphs. However, Panakeia includes synteny and structural information and presents it in a way that can readily be used for further analysis. Panakeia can be downloaded at https://github.com/BioSina/Panakeia together with a detailed User Guide.

Keywords

• Bacteria
• Whole genome sequencing
• Pangenome