#Gimme: A transcripts assembler based on alignments.

##Credits

The program is developed in laboratory of genomics, evolution and development (GED lab), Michigan State University.

Web site http://ged.msu.edu.

Author Likit Preeyanon, preeyano@msu.edu

##Copyright and license

The prgram is Copyright Michigan State University. The code is freely available for use and re-use under GNU GPL license. See LICENSE.txt or http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.

##Publication

Gimme is unpublished. A manuscript is in preparation.

##Download

Source code is available at https://github.com/ged-lab/gimme.git.

##Installation

Run python setup.py in the main directory to download and install required packages.

##Running Gimme

Gimme should be able to run on any platform with Python 2.7 interpreter.

You can simply run

python ./src/gimme.py <input file>

##Input

Gimme can read an input file in PSL or BED format. Use gff2bed.py in utils directory to convert GFF file to BED file.

##Output

Output is written to standard output in BED format, which can be visualized on UCSC genome browser or other browsers.

By default, gene models built by Gimme contain a minimum number of isoforms. Use --max or -x to force Gimme to report a maximum number of isoforms. You can also use a script in utils to find a minimum set of transcripts. See Utilities for more detail.

##Example

Assemble transcripts from sample data

python ./src/gimme.py sample_data/sample.psl > sample.bed

Obtain a maximum number of isoforms

python ./src/gimme.py -x sample_data/sample.psl > sample.max.bed

Run Gimme with multiple input files

python ./src/gimme.py sample1.psl sample2.psl sample3.psl > sample.all.bed

Run Gimme with user defined parameters

python ./src/gimme.py --min_utr=200 --max_intron=100000 --gap_size=15 sample.psl > sample.all.bed

See a program's help

python ./src/gimme.py -h or --help

##Parameters

GAP_SIZE, --gap_size=50 Introns smaller than GAP_SIZE) are filled to construct a more complete exon.

MAX_INTRON, --max_intron=300000 The maximum intron size (bp) allowed. A transcript is split into smaller parts if it contains an intron longer than MAX_INTRON.

MIN_UTR, --min_utr=100 Alternative UTRs smaller than MIN_UTR are merged to overlapping exons.

MIN_TRANSCRIPT_LEN, --min_transcript_len=300 The minimum length (bp) for multiple exon transcript.

MIN_SINGLE_EXON_LEN, --min_single_exon_len=500 The minimum length (bp) for a single exon gene.

MAX_ISOFORMS, --max_isoforms=20 The maximum number of isoforms allowed without -x option. Gimme searches for a minimum number of isoforms if the maximum number exceeds MAX_ISOFORMS.

-x, --max Tell Gimme to search for report all putative isoforms.

--debug Run Gimme with parameters set for debugging.

-v, --version Print out a version number.

-h, --help Print out a help message.

##Running Tests

Run nosetests in the main directory to run all tests.

##Utilities

Gimme contains many useful utilities that work with PSL, BED and SAM format. Some programs are useful for building gene models. Others are useful for working with reads, assembly sequences etc.