Oqtans: a multifunctional workbench for RNA-seq data analysis

Abstract

Background The current revolution in sequencing technologies allows us to obtain a much more detailed picture of transcriptomes via deep RNA Sequencing (RNA-Seq). In considering the full complement of RNA transcripts that comprise the transcriptome, two important analytical questions emerge: what is the abundance of RNA transcripts and which genes or transcripts are differentially expressed. In parallel with developing sequencing technologies, data analysis software is also constantly updated to improve accuracy and sensitivity while minimizing run times. The abundance of software programs, however, can be prohibitive and confusing for researchers evaluating RNA-Seq analysis pipelines.