ODoSE: A Webserver for Genome-Wide Calculation of Adaptive Divergence in Prokaryotes

Abstract

Quantifying patterns of adaptive divergence between taxa is a major goal in the comparative and evolutionary study of prokaryote genomes. When applied appropriately, the McDonald-Kreitman (MK) test is a powerful test of selection based on the relative frequency of non-synonymous and synonymous substitutions between species compared to non-synonymous and synonymous polymorphisms within species. The webserver ODoSE (Ortholog Direction of Selection Engine) allows the calculation of a novel extension of the MK test, the Direction of Selection (DoS) statistic, as well as the calculation of a weighted-average Neutrality Index (NI) statistic for the entire core genome, allowing for systematic analysis of the evolutionary forces shaping core genome divergence in prokaryotes. ODoSE is hosted in a Galaxy environment, which makes it easy to use and amenable to customization and is freely available at www.odose.nl. © 2013 Vos et al.