Bio-Docklets: Virtualization Containers for Single-Step Execution of NGS Pipelines

Background Processing of Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) data requires significant technical skills, involving installation, configuration, and execution of bioinformatics data pipelines, in addition to specialized post-analysis visualization and data mining software. In order to address some of these challenges, developers have leveraged virtualization containers, towards seamless deployment of preconfigured bioinformatics software and pipelines on any computational platform. Findings We present an approach for abstracting the complex data operations of multi-step, bioinformatics pipelines for NGS data analysis. As examples, we have deployed two pipelines for RNAseq and CHIPseq, pre-configured within Docker virtualization containers we call Bio-Docklets. Each Bio-Docklet exposes a single data input and output endpoint and from a user perspective, running the pipelines is as simple as running a single bioinformatics tool. This is achieved through a “meta-script” that automatically starts the Bio-Docklets, and controls the pipeline execution through the BioBlend software library and the Galaxy Application Programming Interface (API). The pipelne output is post-processed using the Visual Omics Explorer (VOE) framework, providing interactive data visualizations that users can access through a web browser. Conclusions The goal of our approach is to enable easy access to NGS data analysis pipelines for nonbioinformatics experts, on any computing environment whether a laboratory workstation, university computer cluster, or a cloud service provider,. Besides end-users, the Bio-Docklets also enables developers to programmatically deploy and run a large number of pipeline instances for concurrent analysis of multiple datasets.