LocusTrack: Integrated visualization of GWAS results and genomic annotation

Abstract

Background: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are an important tool for the mapping of complex traits and diseases. Visual inspection of genomic annotations may be used to generate insights into the biological mechanisms underlying GWAS-identified loci. Results: We developed LocusTrack, a web-based application that annotates and creates plots of regional GWAS results and incorporates user-specified tracks that display annotations such as linkage disequilibrium (LD), phylogenetic conservation, chromatin state, and other genomic and regulatory elements. Currently, LocusTrack can integrate annotation tracks from the UCSC genome-browser as well as from any tracks provided by the user. Conclusion: LocusTrack is an easy-to-use application and can be accessed at the following URL: http://gump.qimr.edu. au/general/gabrieC/LocusTrack/. Users can upload and manage GWAS results and select from and/or provide annotation tracks using simple and intuitive menus. LocusTrack scripts and associated data can be downloaded from the website and run locally.