RIdeogram: drawing SVG graphics to visualize and map genome-wide data on the idiograms
Background: Owing to the rapid advances in DNA sequencing technologies, whole genome from more and more species are becoming available at increasing pace. For whole-genome analysis, idiograms provide a very popular, intuitive and effective way to map and visualize the genome-wide information, such as GC content, gene and repeat density, DNA methylation distribution, etc. However, most available software programs and web servers are available only for a few model species, such as human, mouse and fly. As boundaries between model and non-model species are shifting, tools are urgently needs to generate idiograms for a broad range of species are needed to help better understanding fundamental genome characteristics. Results: The R package RIdeogram allows users to build high-quality idiograms of any species of interest. It can map continuous and discrete genome-wide data on the idiograms and visualize them in a heat map and track labels, respectively. Conclusion: The visualization of genome-wide data mapping and comparison allow users to quickly establish a clear impression of the chromosomal distribution pattern, thus making RIdeogram a useful tool for any researchers working with omics.