The tools

Tool

Type

Input Files

Main Output File(s)

genomeWindows

Basic Coordinate Preparation

a genome length file

bin-based coordinate

bigWig2bedGraph

Data Format Conversion

1 or more bigWig file(s)

bedGraph file(s)

bedGraph2bigWig

Data Format Conversion

1 or more bedGraph file(s)

bigWig file(s)

s3v2Norm

Normalization

bigWig files and a metadata file

Normal signal files

mergeBedgraph

Data Integration

2 or more bedGraph file(s)

1 bedGraph file

mergeBigwig

Data Integration

2 or more bigWig file(s)

1 bigWig file

ideasCS

Chromatin State Segmentation

output from s3v2Norm

bin-based chromatin state segmentation

chromIDEAS

One Step Chromatin State Segmentation

bigWig files and a metadata file

bin-based chromatin state segmentation

plotCSprofile

Visualization

output from ideasCS or chromIDEAS

chromatin state genomic distribution curve

stateCompare

Statistical Analysis

output from ideasCS or chromIDEAS

NULL

computeCSMat

Preparation for Functional Clustering

CS segmentation + genomic regions

segment-wise CS occupancy matrix + HITs

clusterCS

Functional Clustering

output from computeCSMat + emission table

functional clustering of CS + distance matrix

chromIDEAS_CSC

One Step Functional Clustering

CS segmentation + genomic regions + emission table

functional clustering of CS + distance matrix

chromDCSCG

Differential CSC Gene Analysis

CS segmentation + genomic regions + functional clustering of CS

genes with differential CSC

General principles

A typical chromIDEAS command could look like this:

$ chromIDEAS -m metadata.txt \
-o outdir/ \
-b 200 \
-g hg38.txt \
-n hg38_200 \
-p 10 \
-c

You can always view all available command-line options via -h or directly entering the command:

$ chromIDEAS -h
$ chromIDEAS

Parameters to decrease the run time

-p <nthreads>

Number of processors to be used

Note

This parameter is available throughout almost all tools.

Relationship between -s <species>, -g <genomesizes> and -n <windows_name>

-s <species>

Supported species: hg38, hg19, or mm10. Selecting this option automatically loads the corresponding genomesizes file and blacklist file. If your species is not listed, manually provide these files via -g <genome_sizes> -n <windows_name> [-B <blackList>].

-g <genomesizes>

The genomesizes file (tab-delimited) listing chromosome lengths. An example:

chr1  249250621
...
-n <windows_name>

A unique name to identify the generated window bins.

These three parameters are used to construct the coordinate system. The relationship between them can be divided into the following four usage scenarios:

  1. Situation 1: Only with -n <windows_name>. This case applies only when a windows bin coordinate system named <windows_name> has already been successfully constructed. The remaining three situations apply when no windows bin coordinate system has been constructed yet.

  2. Situation 2: Only with -s <species>. The program will automatically match the corresponding <genomesizes> file and <blackList> file for the specified species, and it will automatically set <windows_name> using “<species>”.

  3. Situation3: -s <species> -n <windows_name>. The program will automatically match the corresponding <genomesizes> file and <blackList> file for the specified species, while also setting <windows_name> according to the parameter.

  4. Situation4: -g <genomesizes> -n <windows_name>. The program will generate windows bins based on <genomesizes> and set <windows_name> according to the parameter.

Note

These parameters are available throughout almost all tools.

(1) Tools for Coordinate Preparation

genomeWindows

(2) Tools for Data Format Conversion

bigWig2bedGraph

bedGraph2bigWig

(3) Tools for Data Normalization

s3v2Norm

(4) Tools for Data Integration

mergeBedgraph

mergeBigwig

(5) Tools for Chromatin State Segmentation

ideasCS

chromIDEAS

(6) Tools for Visualization

plotCSprofile

(7) Tools for Statistical Analysis

stateCompare

(8) Tools for Functional Clustering

computeCSMat

clusterCS

chromIDEAS_CSC

(9) Tools for Differential CSC Gene Analysis

chromDCSCG