Blast2GO: A Comprehensive Suite for Functional Analysis in Plant Genomics

TLDR

Functional annotation of novel sequence data is essential for applying functional genomics approaches in plant research. This paper presents Blast2GO as a comprehensive bioinformatics suite for functional annotation of sequences and mining of resulting annotations using the Gene Ontology vocabulary. Blast2GO optimizes function transfer from homologous sequences through an algorithm that weighs similarity, homology extension, database choice, GO hierarchy, and annotation quality, and it provides visualization, management, statistical analysis, gene set enrichment, and support for InterPro, enzyme codes, KEGG pathways, GO DAGs, and GOSlim. Blast2GO proves suitable for plant genomics research due to its versatility, ease of installation, and user‑friendly interface.

Abstract

Functional annotation of novel sequence data is a primary requirement for the utilization of functional genomics approaches in plant research. In this paper, we describe the Blast2GO suite as a comprehensive bioinformatics tool for functional annotation of sequences and data mining on the resulting annotations, primarily based on the gene ontology (GO) vocabulary. Blast2GO optimizes function transfer from homologous sequences through an elaborate algorithm that considers similarity, the extension of the homology, the database of choice, the GO hierarchy, and the quality of the original annotations. The tool includes numerous functions for the visualization, management, and statistical analysis of annotation results, including gene set enrichment analysis. The application supports InterPro, enzyme codes, KEGG pathways, GO direct acyclic graphs (DAGs), and GOSlim. Blast2GO is a suitable tool for plant genomics research because of its versatility, easy installation, and friendly use.