wobble

 

Function

Wobble base plot

Description

Wobble plots the third position variability as an indicator of a potential coding region.

For each of the six possible translation frames, this plots a graph showing the percentage of 'G' and 'C' bases in the third position of codons in the frame within a window that is moved over the sequence.

Bases other than 'G' and 'C' can be chosen with the -bases option.

The Mean of the third base percentage value is drawn as a horizontal line across the plots.

Usage

Here is a sample session with wobble

Here is a sample session with wobble. The example sequence is from Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which has a high G+C content and a very biased third codon position (if it can be G or C, it usually is). 


% wobble 
Wobble base plot
Input nucleotide sequence: tembl:x13776
Graph type [x11]: cps
Output file [x13776.wobble]: 

Created wobble.ps

Go to the input files for this example
Go to the output files for this example

Command line arguments 

   Standard (Mandatory) qualifiers:
  [-sequence]          sequence   Nucleotide sequence filename and optional
                                  format, or reference (input USA)
   -graph              xygraph    [$EMBOSS_GRAPHICS value, or x11] Graph type
                                  (ps, hpgl, hp7470, hp7580, meta, cps, x11,
                                  tekt, tek, none, data, xterm, png, gif)
  [-outfile]           outfile    [*.wobble] Output file name

   Additional (Optional) qualifiers:
   -window             integer    [30] Window size in codons (Integer 1 or
                                  more)

   Advanced (Unprompted) qualifiers:
   -bases              string     [GC] Bases used (Any string is accepted)

   Associated qualifiers:

   "-sequence" associated qualifiers
   -sbegin1            integer    Start of the sequence to be used
   -send1              integer    End of the sequence to be used
   -sreverse1          boolean    Reverse (if DNA)
   -sask1              boolean    Ask for begin/end/reverse
   -snucleotide1       boolean    Sequence is nucleotide
   -sprotein1          boolean    Sequence is protein
   -slower1            boolean    Make lower case
   -supper1            boolean    Make upper case
   -sformat1           string     Input sequence format
   -sdbname1           string     Database name
   -sid1               string     Entryname
   -ufo1               string     UFO features
   -fformat1           string     Features format
   -fopenfile1         string     Features file name

   "-graph" associated qualifiers
   -gprompt            boolean    Graph prompting
   -gdesc              string     Graph description
   -gtitle             string     Graph title
   -gsubtitle          string     Graph subtitle
   -gxtitle            string     Graph x axis title
   -gytitle            string     Graph y axis title
   -goutfile           string     Output file for non interactive displays
   -gdirectory         string     Output directory

   "-outfile" associated qualifiers
   -odirectory2        string     Output directory

   General qualifiers:
   -auto               boolean    Turn off prompts
   -stdout             boolean    Write standard output
   -filter             boolean    Read standard input, write standard output
   -options            boolean    Prompt for standard and additional values
   -debug              boolean    Write debug output to program.dbg
   -verbose            boolean    Report some/full command line options
   -help               boolean    Report command line options. More
                                  information on associated and general
                                  qualifiers can be found with -help -verbose
   -warning            boolean    Report warnings
   -error              boolean    Report errors
   -fatal              boolean    Report fatal errors
   -die                boolean    Report dying program messages

Standard (Mandatory) qualifiers Allowed values Default
[-sequence]
(Parameter 1)		 Nucleotide sequence filename and optional format, or reference (input USA) Readable sequence Required
-graph Graph type EMBOSS has a list of known devices, including ps, hpgl, hp7470, hp7580, meta, cps, x11, tekt, tek, none, data, xterm, png, gif EMBOSS_GRAPHICS value, or x11
[-outfile]
(Parameter 2)		 Output file name Output file <*>.wobble
Additional (Optional) qualifiers Allowed values Default
-window Window size in codons Integer 1 or more 30
Advanced (Unprompted) qualifiers Allowed values Default
-bases Bases used Any string is accepted GC

Input file format

wobble reads a normal nucleic acid sequence USA.

Input files for usage example

'tembl:x13776' is a sequence entry in the example nucleic acid database 'tembl'

Database entry: tembl:x13776

ID   X13776; SV 1; linear; genomic DNA; STD; PRO; 2167 BP.
XX
AC   X13776; M43175;
XX
DT   19-APR-1989 (Rel. 19, Created)
DT   14-NOV-2006 (Rel. 89, Last updated, Version 24)
XX
DE   Pseudomonas aeruginosa amiC and amiR gene for aliphatic amidase regulation
XX
KW   aliphatic amidase regulator; amiC gene; amiR gene.
XX
OS   Pseudomonas aeruginosa
OC   Bacteria; Proteobacteria; Gammaproteobacteria; Pseudomonadales;
OC   Pseudomonadaceae; Pseudomonas.
XX
RN   [1]
RP   1167-2167
RA   Rice P.M.;
RT   ;
RL   Submitted (16-DEC-1988) to the EMBL/GenBank/DDBJ databases.
RL   Rice P.M., EMBL, Postfach 10-2209, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 6900 Heidelberg, FRG.
XX
RN   [2]
RP   1167-2167
RX   DOI; 10.1016/0014-5793(89)80249-2.
RX   PUBMED; 2495988.
RA   Lowe N., Rice P.M., Drew R.E.;
RT   "Nucleotide sequence of the aliphatic amidase regulator gene of Pseudomonas
RT   aeruginosa";
RL   FEBS Lett. 246(1-2):39-43(1989).
XX
RN   [3]
RP   1-1292
RX   PUBMED; 1907262.
RA   Wilson S., Drew R.;
RT   "Cloning and DNA seqence of amiC, a new gene regulating expression of the
RT   Pseudomonas aeruginosa aliphatic amidase, and purification of the amiC
RT   product.";
RL   J. Bacteriol. 173(16):4914-4921(1991).
XX
RN   [4]
RP   1-2167
RA   Rice P.M.;
RT   ;
RL   Submitted (04-SEP-1991) to the EMBL/GenBank/DDBJ databases.
RL   Rice P.M., EMBL, Postfach 10-2209, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 6900 Heidelberg, FRG.
XX
DR   GOA; Q51417.
DR   UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot; Q51417; AMIS_PSEAE.
XX


  [Part of this file has been deleted for brevity]

FT                   /replace=""
FT                   /note="ClaI fragment deleted in pSW36,  constitutive
FT                   phenotype"
FT   misc_feature    1
FT                   /note="last base of an XhoI site"
FT   misc_feature    648..653
FT                   /note="end of 658bp XhoI fragment, deletion in  pSW3 causes
FT                   constitutive expression of amiE"
FT   conflict        1281
FT                   /replace="g"
FT                   /citation=[3]
XX
SQ   Sequence 2167 BP; 363 A; 712 C; 730 G; 362 T; 0 other;
     ggtaccgctg gccgagcatc tgctcgatca ccaccagccg ggcgacggga actgcacgat        60
     ctacctggcg agcctggagc acgagcgggt tcgcttcgta cggcgctgag cgacagtcac       120
     aggagaggaa acggatggga tcgcaccagg agcggccgct gatcggcctg ctgttctccg       180
     aaaccggcgt caccgccgat atcgagcgct cgcacgcgta tggcgcattg ctcgcggtcg       240
     agcaactgaa ccgcgagggc ggcgtcggcg gtcgcccgat cgaaacgctg tcccaggacc       300
     ccggcggcga cccggaccgc tatcggctgt gcgccgagga cttcattcgc aaccgggggg       360
     tacggttcct cgtgggctgc tacatgtcgc acacgcgcaa ggcggtgatg ccggtggtcg       420
     agcgcgccga cgcgctgctc tgctacccga ccccctacga gggcttcgag tattcgccga       480
     acatcgtcta cggcggtccg gcgccgaacc agaacagtgc gccgctggcg gcgtacctga       540
     ttcgccacta cggcgagcgg gtggtgttca tcggctcgga ctacatctat ccgcgggaaa       600
     gcaaccatgt gatgcgccac ctgtatcgcc agcacggcgg cacggtgctc gaggaaatct       660
     acattccgct gtatccctcc gacgacgact tgcagcgcgc cgtcgagcgc atctaccagg       720
     cgcgcgccga cgtggtcttc tccaccgtgg tgggcaccgg caccgccgag ctgtatcgcg       780
     ccatcgcccg tcgctacggc gacggcaggc ggccgccgat cgccagcctg accaccagcg       840
     aggcggaggt ggcgaagatg gagagtgacg tggcagaggg gcaggtggtg gtcgcgcctt       900
     acttctccag catcgatacg cccgccagcc gggccttcgt ccaggcctgc catggtttct       960
     tcccggagaa cgcgaccatc accgcctggg ccgaggcggc ctactggcag accttgttgc      1020
     tcggccgcgc cgcgcaggcc gcaggcaact ggcgggtgga agacgtgcag cggcacctgt      1080
     acgacatcga catcgacgcg ccacaggggc cggtccgggt ggagcgccag aacaaccaca      1140
     gccgcctgtc ttcgcgcatc gcggaaatcg atgcgcgcgg cgtgttccag gtccgctggc      1200
     agtcgcccga accgattcgc cccgaccctt atgtcgtcgt gcataacctc gacgactggt      1260
     ccgccagcat gggcggggga ccgctcccat gagcgccaac tcgctgctcg gcagcctgcg      1320
     cgagttgcag gtgctggtcc tcaacccgcc gggggaggtc agcgacgccc tggtcttgca      1380
     gctgatccgc atcggttgtt cggtgcgcca gtgctggccg ccgccggaag ccttcgacgt      1440
     gccggtggac gtggtcttca ccagcatttt ccagaatggc caccacgacg agatcgctgc      1500
     gctgctcgcc gccgggactc cgcgcactac cctggtggcg ctggtggagt acgaaagccc      1560
     cgcggtgctc tcgcagatca tcgagctgga gtgccacggc gtgatcaccc agccgctcga      1620
     tgcccaccgg gtgctgcctg tgctggtatc ggcgcggcgc atcagcgagg aaatggcgaa      1680
     gctgaagcag aagaccgagc agctccagga ccgcatcgcc ggccaggccc ggatcaacca      1740
     ggccaaggtg ttgctgatgc agcgccatgg ctgggacgag cgcgaggcgc accagcacct      1800
     gtcgcgggaa gcgatgaagc ggcgcgagcc gatcctgaag atcgctcagg agttgctggg      1860
     aaacgagccg tccgcctgag cgatccgggc cgaccagaac aataacaaga ggggtatcgt      1920
     catcatgctg ggactggttc tgctgtacgt tggcgcggtg ctgtttctca atgccgtctg      1980
     gttgctgggc aagatcagcg gtcgggaggt ggcggtgatc aacttcctgg tcggcgtgct      2040
     gagcgcctgc gtcgcgttct acctgatctt ttccgcagca gccgggcagg gctcgctgaa      2100
     ggccggagcg ctgaccctgc tattcgcttt tacctatctg tgggtggccg ccaaccagtt      2160
     cctcgag                                                                2167
//

Output file format

wobble plots a set of six graphs, one for each frame.

Output files for usage example

File: x13776.wobble

Expected GC content in third position = 66.54

Graphics File: wobble.ps

[wobble results]

Data files

None.

Notes

None.

References

None.

Warnings

None.

Diagnostic Error Messages

"Sequence too short for window" - The sequence must be longer than 3 times the window length.

"Specifying ACG&T is meaningless" - When you use the option -bases to specify the bases to look for, it is pointless to specify looking for all the possible bases as these should add to 100% all the time.

"No bases specified" - Similarly you have to specify some bases to look for otherwise you must plot a 0% line.

Exit status

It always exits with a status of 0, unless a fatal error is given.

Known bugs

None.

See also

Program nameDescription
getorf Finds and extracts open reading frames (ORFs)
marscan Finds MAR/SAR sites in nucleic sequences
plotorf Plot potential open reading frames
showorf Pretty output of DNA translations
sixpack Display a DNA sequence with 6-frame translation and ORFs
syco Synonymous codon usage Gribskov statistic plot
tcode Fickett TESTCODE statistic to identify protein-coding DNA