Since genes mutate at different rates, a more informative phylogenetic tree can be constructed when faster and slower mutating genes are considered in conjunction. Performing these analyses manually by copy-pasting and aligning one gene...
moreSince genes mutate at different rates, a more informative phylogenetic tree can be constructed when faster and slower mutating genes are considered in conjunction. Performing these analyses manually by copy-pasting and aligning one gene sequence after another is very laborious, tedious, time consuming, and prone to significant errors. To alleviate these problems, we developed an open access web application called “Dione Bioinformatics Framework”. The Dione Bioinformatics Framework is a web-based application that utilizes an intuitive user friendly graphical interface. The first release of the framework includes two main features. 1.) It can concatenate multiple sequences and 2.) Perform sequence alignments. The Dione Bioinformatics Framework is not command line based but rather allows dragging and dropping the steps of the concatenation and alignment process. These processes are symbolized by icons that can be connected by arrows. The application performs two primary functions, namely "concatenation" and "alignment". Both features can be used together or in isolation to specify which functions are used in any order. Each function is represented as nodes in the workflow, with nodes connected to other nodes by arrows. The direction of the arrow represents the execution order. The application allows users to create multiple workflows and subsequently execute them in a single run. In future releases, the framework is intended to include all the applications needed for detailed phylogenetic analyses. This application is intended to be an exercise based teaching aid for conveying evolutionary principles to high school and undergraduate students with limited programming background.
