Visualization of the small RNA transcriptome using seqclusterViz

Abstract

The study of small RNAs provides us with a deeper understanding of the complexity of gene regulation within cells. Of the different types of small RNAs, the most important in mammals are miRNA, tRNA fragments and piRNAs. Using small RNA-seq analysis, we can study all small RNA types simultaneously, with the potential to detect novel small RNA types. We describe SeqclusterViz, an interactive HTML-javascript webpage for visualizing small noncoding RNAs (small RNAs) detected by Seqcluster. The SeqclusterViz tool allows users to visualize known and novel small RNA types in model or non-model organisms, and to select small RNA candidates for further validation. SeqclusterViz is divided into three panels: i) query-ready tables showing detected small RNA clusters and their genomic locations, ii) the expression profile over the precursor for all the samples together with RNA secondary structures, and iii) the mostly highly expressed sequences. Here, we show the capabilities of the visualization tool and its validation using human brain samples from patients with Parkinson's disease.