ROVER variant caller: read-pair overlap considerate variant-calling software applied to PCR-based massively parallel sequencing datasets

Abstract

Doc number: 3

Abstract

Background: We recently described Hi-Plex, a highly multiplexed PCR-based target-enrichment system for massively parallel sequencing (MPS), which allows the uniform definition of library size so that subsequent paired-end sequencing can achieve complete overlap of read pairs. Variant calling from Hi-Plex-derived datasets can thus rely on the identification of variants appearing in both reads of read-pairs, permitting stringent filtering of sequencing chemistry-induced errors. These principles underly ROVER software (derived from Read Overlap PCR-MPS variant caller), which we have recently used to report the screening for genetic mutations in the breast cancer predisposition gene PALB2 . Here, we describe the algorithms underlying ROVER and its usage.

Results: ROVER enables users to quickly and accurately identify genetic variants from PCR-targeted, overlapping paired-end MPS datasets. The open-source availability of the software and threshold tailorability enables broad access for a range of PCR-MPS users.

Methods: ROVER is implemented in Python and runs on all popular POSIX-like operating systems (Linux, OS X). The software accepts a tab-delimited text file listing the coordinates of the target-specific primers used for targeted enrichment based on a specified genome-build. It also accepts aligned sequence files resulting from mapping to the same genome-build. ROVER identifies the amplicon a given read-pair represents and removes the primer sequences by using the mapping co-ordinates and primer co-ordinates. It considers overlapping read-pairs with respect to primer-intervening sequence. Only when a variant is observed in both reads of a read-pair does the signal contribute to a tally of read-pairs containing or not containing the variant. A user-defined threshold informs the minimum number of, and proportion of, read-pairs a variant must be observed in for a 'call' to be made. ROVER also reports the depth of coverage across amplicons to facilitate the identification of any regions that may require further screening.

Conclusions: ROVER can facilitate rapid and accurate genetic variant calling for a broad range of PCR-MPS users.