How Was This Genomic Region Mapping Image Plotted?

Question

[Boboppie]

It is originally from this paper. It looks to me was created by photoshop or some advanced image editor. Ideas?

Are there other toolkits or libs available to create nice synteny map or region mapping image like this?

Answer 1

[Pierre Lindenbaum]

If you open this image with gimp, and look at "Image properties", you'll see than it has been generated with:

Handmade Software, Inc. Image Alchemy v1.13

so, it comes originally from a PS/PDF/SVG file = from a vectorial drawing editor.( e.g. http:www.inkscape.org) or it as been generated with a dedicated software. (e.g.: http://www.ncrna.org/idiographica/ )

[Casey Bergman]

Excellent detective work

[Boboppie]

@pierre cool, thanx!

[Cjt]

metadata... nice idea! ;)

Answer 2

[Cjt]

I am pretty sure it is not automatically generated but "handmade" as there are some minor flaws. Just compare the alignment of the labels to the marker lines on the left. For me it looks like a vector based graphics as done by Adobe Illustrator or the free pendant Inkscape.

For automated drawing you might have a look at osfinder. Maybe this is what you're looking for?

Answer 3

[Benm]

I agree cjt's opinion, it should be "handmade" by SVG or GD module.

I recommend you can use Circos, it is one of the best toolkits to create synteny map for comparative analysis.