BigWig and BigBed: Enabling browsing of large distributed datasets

Abstract

Summary: BigWig and BigBed files are compressed binary indexed files containing data at several resolutions that allow the highperformance display of next-generation sequencing experiment results in the UCSC Genome Browser. The visualization is implemented using a multi-layered software approach that takes advantage of specific capabilities of web-based protocols and Linux and UNIX operating systems files, R trees and various indexing and compression tricks. As a result, only the data needed to support the current browser view is transmitted rather than the entire file, enabling fast remote access to large distributed data sets. © The Author(s) 2010. Published by Oxford University Press.