VIRULIGN: Fast codon-correct alignment and annotation of viral genomes

Abstract

Virus sequence data are an essential resource for reconstructing spatiotemporal dynamics of viral spread as well as to inform treatment and prevention strategies. However, the potential benefit of these applications critically depends on accurate and correctly annotated alignments of genetically heterogeneous data. VIRULIGN was built for fast codon-correct alignments of large datasets, with standardized and formalized genome annotation and various alignment export formats. Availability and implementation: VIRULIGN is freely available at https://github.com/rega-cev/viru lign as an open source software project.