A set of online informatics tools has been developed at Drosophila RNAi Screening Center (DRSC) to help scientists identify genes, select RNAi reagents, analyze high-throughput datasets and validate results. Here, we present recent updates to existing tools and new tools. DIOPT (flyrnai.org/diopt) was developed for query of predicted orthologs among common model systems by integrating 10 ortholog prediction approaches. We added Rat recently beside the 8 species we previously support. Our CRISPR sgRNA tools include a resource of pre-computed Drosophila sgRNA designs viewed in a genome browse context, as well as annotation of potential off-target locations and predicted efficiency. We recently added a Frameshift score, which predicts the likelihood of a frameshift mutation when repairing a CRISPR cut.
We launched three new resources. 1.) GLAD is a resource of high quality lists of functionally related Drosophila genes, e.g. based on protein domains (kinases, transcription factors, etc.) or cellular function (e.g. autophagy, signal transduction). 2.) DGET stores and facilitates search of RNA-Seq based expression profiles available from the modEncode consortium and other public data sets for Drosophila genes. Using DGET, researchers are able to look up gene expression profiles, filter results based on threshold expression values, and compare expression data across different developmental stages, tissues and treatments. In addition, at DGET a researcher can analyze tissue or stage-specific enrichment for an inputted list of genes (e.g. ‘hits’ from a screen) and search for additional genes with similar expression patterns. 3.) MIST is a comprehensive resource of molecular interactions. MIST currently supports several species, including yeast, frog, worm, fly, fish, mouse and human. At MIST, users can mine known physical interactions and infer interactions using other supportive evidence as well as similar genes by correlation analysis. The web interface allows users to retrieve interacting or similar genes in table format as well as visualize these interactions as networks.