An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.

info

Graph Algorithms
in Bioinformatics
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Outline
Introduction to Graph Theory
Eulerian & Hamiltonian Cycle Problems
Benzer Experiment and Interal Graphs
DNA Sequencing
The Shortest Superstring & Traveling
Salesman Problems
Sequencing by Hybridization
Fragment Assembly and Repeats in DNA
Fragment Assembly Algorithms
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

The Bridge Obsession Problem

Find a tour crossing every bridge just once
Leonhard Euler, 1735

Bridges of Knigsberg
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Eulerian Cycle Problem

Find a cycle that
visits every edge
exactly once

Linear time

More complicated Knigsberg

An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Hamiltonian Cycle Problem

Find a cycle that
visits every vertex
exactly once

NP complete

Game invented by Sir

William Hamilton in 1857
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Mapping Problems to Graphs

Arthur Cayley studied
chemical structures
of hydrocarbons in
the mid-1800s

He used trees
(acyclic connected
graphs) to enumerate
structural isomers
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Beginning of Graph Theory in Biology

Benzers work
Developed deletion
mapping
Proved linearity of
the gene
Demonstrated
internal structure of
the gene
Seymour Benzer, 1950s
 An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Viruses Attack Bacteria

Normally bacteriophage T4 kills bacteria
However if T4 is mutated (e.g., an important gene is
deleted) it gets disable and looses an ability to kill
bacteria
Suppose the bacteria is infected with two different
mutants each of which is disabled would the
bacteria still survive?
Amazingly, a pair of disable viruses can kill a
bacteria even if each of them is disabled.
How can it be explained?
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Benzers Experiment
Idea: infect bacteria with pairs of mutant T4
bacteriophage (virus)
Each T4 mutant has an unknown interval
deleted from its genome
If the two intervals overlap: T4 pair is
missing part of its genome and is disabled
bacteria survive
If the two intervals do not overlap: T4 pair
has its entire genome and is enabled
bacteria die
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Complementation between pairs of

mutant T4 bacteriophages
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Benzers Experiment and Graphs

Construct an interval graph: each T4
mutant is a vertex, place an edge between
mutant pairs where bacteria survived (i.e.,
the deleted intervals in the pair of mutants
overlap)
Interval graph structure reveals whether DNA
is linear or branched DNA
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Interval Graph: Linear Genes

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Interval Graph: Branched Genes

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Interval Graph: Comparison

Linear genome Branched genome

An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

DNA Sequencing: History

Sanger method (1977): Gilbert method (1977):
labeled ddNTPs chemical method to
terminate DNA cleave DNA at specific
copying at random points (G, G+A, T+C, C).
points.

Both methods generate

labeled fragments of
varying lengths that are
further electrophoresed.
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Sanger Method: Generating Read

1. Start at primer
(restriction site)
2. Grow DNA chain
3. Include ddNTPs
4. Stops reaction at all
possible points
5. Separate products
by length, using gel
electrophoresis
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DNA Sequencing
Shear DNA into
millions of small
fragments
Read 500 700
nucleotides at a
time from the small
fragments (Sanger
method)
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Fragment Assembly
Computational Challenge: assemble
individual short fragments (reads) into a
single genomic sequence (superstring)

Until late 1990s the shotgun fragment

assembly of human genome was viewed as
intractable problem
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Shortest Superstring Problem

Problem: Given a set of strings, find a
shortest string that contains all of them
Input: Strings s1, s2,., sn
Output: A string s that contains all strings
s1, s2,., sn as substrings, such that the
length of s is minimized

Complexity: NP complete
Note: this formulation does not take into
account sequencing errors
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Shortest Superstring Problem: Example

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Reducing SSP to TSP

Define overlap ( si, sj ) as the length of the longest prefix of
sj that matches a suffix of si.
aaaggcatcaaatctaaaggcatcaaa
aaaggcatcaaatctaaaggcatcaaa

What is overlap ( si, sj ) for these strings?

 An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Reducing SSP to TSP

Define overlap ( si, sj ) as the length of the longest prefix of
sj that matches a suffix of si.
aaaggcatcaaatctaaaggcatcaaa
aaaggcatcaaatctaaaggcatcaaa
aaaggcatcaaatctaaaggcatcaaa

overlap=12
 An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Reducing SSP to TSP

Define overlap ( si, sj ) as the length of the longest prefix of
sj that matches a suffix of si.
aaaggcatcaaatctaaaggcatcaaa
aaaggcatcaaatctaaaggcatcaaa
aaaggcatcaaatctaaaggcatcaaa

Construct a graph with n vertices representing the n strings

s1, s2,., sn.
Insert edges of length overlap ( si, sj ) between vertices si
and sj.
Find the shortest path which visits every vertex exactly
once. This is the Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP),
which is also NP complete.
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Reducing SSP to TSP (contd)

An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

SSP to TSP: An Example

S = { ATC, CCA, CAG, TCC, AGT }

TSP ATC
SSP
AGT
0 2 1
CCA 1
AGT 1 CCA
ATC
1
ATCCAGT 2 2 2
TCC
CAG 1 TC
CAG
C
ATCCAGT
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Sequencing by Hybridization (SBH): History

1988: SBH suggested as an First microarray

prototype (1989)
an alternative sequencing
method. Nobody believed it will
ever work
First commercial
DNA microarray
prototype w/16,000
1991: Light directed polymer features (1994)
synthesis developed by Steve
Fodor and colleagues.
500,000 features
per chip (2002)
1994: Affymetrix develops
first 64-kb DNA microarray
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

How SBH Works

Attach all possible DNA probes of length l to a
flat surface, each probe at a distinct and known
location. This set of probes is called the DNA
array.
Apply a solution containing fluorescently labeled
DNA fragment to the array.
The DNA fragment hybridizes with those probes
that are complementary to substrings of length l
of the fragment.
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

How SBH Works (contd)

Using a spectroscopic detector, determine
which probes hybridize to the DNA fragment
to obtain the lmer composition of the target
DNA fragment.

Apply the combinatorial algorithm (below) to

reconstruct the sequence of the target DNA
fragment from the l mer composition.
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Hybridization on DNA Array

An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

l-mer composition
Spectrum ( s, l ) - unordered multiset of all
possible (n l + 1) l-mers in a string s of length n
The order of individual elements in Spectrum ( s, l
) does not matter
For s = TATGGTGC all of the following are
equivalent representations of Spectrum ( s, 3 ):
{TAT, ATG, TGG, GGT, GTG, TGC}
{ATG, GGT, GTG, TAT, TGC, TGG}
{TGG, TGC, TAT, GTG, GGT, ATG}
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

l-mer composition
Spectrum ( s, l ) - unordered multiset of all
possible (n l + 1) l-mers in a string s of length n
The order of individual elements in Spectrum ( s, l
) does not matter
For s = TATGGTGC all of the following are
equivalent representations of Spectrum ( s, 3 ):
{TAT, ATG, TGG, GGT, GTG, TGC}
{ATG, GGT, GTG, TAT, TGC, TGG}
{TGG, TGC, TAT, GTG, GGT, ATG}
We usually choose the lexicographically maximal
representation as the canonical one.
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Different sequences the same spectrum

Different sequences may have the same

spectrum:
Spectrum(GTATCT,2)=
Spectrum(GTCTAT,2)=
{AT, CT, GT, TA, TC}
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

The SBH Problem

Goal: Reconstruct a string from its l-mer
composition

Input: A set S, representing all l-mers from an

(unknown) string s

Output: String s such that Spectrum ( s,l ) = S

An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

SBH: Hamiltonian Path Approach

S = { ATG AGG TGC TCC GTC GGT GCA CAG }

H ATG AGG TGC TCC GTC GGT GCA CAG

ATG CAGG TC C
Path visited every VERTEX once
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

SBH: Hamiltonian Path Approach

A more complicated graph:

S = { ATG TGG TGC GTG GGC GCA GCG CGT }

An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

SBH: Hamiltonian Path Approach

S = { ATG TGG TGC GTG GGC GCA GCG CGT }

Path 1:

ATGCGTGGCA

Path 2:

ATGGCGTGCA
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

SBH: Eulerian Path Approach

S = { ATG, TGC, GTG, GGC, GCA, GCG, CGT }

Vertices correspond to ( l 1 ) mers : { AT, TG, GC, GG, GT, CA, CG }

Edges correspond to l mers from S

GT C
G

AT TG GC CA

Path visited every EDGE once

GG
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

SBH: Eulerian Path Approach

S = { AT, TG, GC, GG, GT, CA, CG } corresponds to two different
paths:

GT C GT C
G G
AT TG GC AT TG GC
CA CA

GG GG

ATGGCGTGCA ATGCGTGGCA
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Euler Theorem
A graph is balanced if for every vertex the
number of incoming edges equals to the
number of outgoing edges:
in(v)=out(v)
Theorem: A connected graph is Eulerian if
and only if each of its vertices is balanced.
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Euler Theorem: Proof

Eulerian balanced
for every edge entering v (incoming edge)
there exists an edge leaving v (outgoing
edge). Therefore
in(v)=out(v)
Balanced Eulerian
???
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Algorithm for Constructing an Eulerian Cycle

a.
Start with an arbitrary
vertex v and form an
arbitrary cycle with unused
edges until a dead end is
reached. Since the graph
is Eulerian this dead end is
necessarily the starting
point, i.e., vertex v.
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Algorithm for Constructing an Eulerian Cycle (contd)

b. If cycle from (a) above is

not an Eulerian cycle, it
must contain a vertex w,
which has untraversed
edges. Perform step (a)
again, using vertex w as
the starting point. Once
again, we will end up in
the starting vertex w.
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Algorithm for Constructing an Eulerian Cycle (contd)

c. Combine the cycles

from (a) and (b) into
a single cycle and
iterate step (b).
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Euler Theorem: Extension

Theorem: A connected graph has an
Eulerian path if and only if it contains at most
two semi-balanced vertices and all other
vertices are balanced.
 An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Some Difficulties with SBH

Fidelity of Hybridization: difficult to detect
differences between probes hybridized with perfect
matches and 1 or 2 mismatches
Array Size: Effect of low fidelity can be decreased
with longer l-mers, but array size increases
exponentially in l. Array size is limited with current
technology.
Practicality: SBH is still impractical. As DNA
microarray technology improves, SBH may become
practical in the future
Practicality again: Although SBH is still impractical,
it spearheaded expression analysis and SNP
analysis techniques
 An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Traditional DNA Sequencing

DNA

Shake

DNA fragments

Known
Vector location
Circular genome
(restriction
(bacterium, plasmid) + = site)
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Different Types of Vectors

VECTOR Size of insert (bp)

Plasmid 2,000 - 10,000

Cosmid 40,000

BAC (Bacterial Artificial

70,000 - 300,000
Chromosome)
> 300,000
YAC (Yeast Artificial
Not used much
Chromosome)
recently
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Electrophoresis Diagrams
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Challenging to Read Answer

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Reading an Electropherogram
Filtering

Smoothening

Correction for length compressions

A method for calling the nucleotides PHRED

An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Shotgun Sequencing
genomic segment

cut many times at

random (Shotgun)

Get one or two

reads from each
segment
~500 bp ~500 bp
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Fragment Assembly
reads

Cover region with ~7-fold redundancy

Overlap reads and extend to reconstruct the
original genomic region
 An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Read Coverage

Length of genomic segment: L

Number of reads: n Coverage C=nl/L
Length of each read: l

How much coverage is enough?

Lander-Waterman model:
Assuming uniform distribution of reads, C=10 results in 1 gapped
region per 1,000,000 nucleotides
 An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Challenges in Fragment Assembly

Repeats: A major problem for fragment assembly
> 50% of human genome are repeats:
- over 1 million Alu repeats (about 300 bp)
- about 200,000 LINE repeats (1000 bp and longer)

Repeat Repeat Repeat

Green and blue fragments are interchangeable when

assembling repetitive DNA
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Triazzle: A Fun Example

The puzzle looks simple
BUT there are repeats!!!
The repeats make it
very difficult.
Try it only $7.99 at
www.triazzle.com
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Repeat Types
Low-Complexity DNA (e.g. ATATATATACATA)

Microsatellite repeats (a1ak)N where k ~ 3-6

(e.g. CAGCAGTAGCAGCACCAG)
Transposons/retrotransposons
SINE Short Interspersed Nuclear Elements
(e.g., Alu: ~300 bp long, 106 copies)

LINE Long Interspersed Nuclear Elements

~500 - 5,000 bp long, 200,000 copies

LTR retroposons Long Terminal Repeats (~700 bp) at

each end
Gene Families genes duplicate & then diverge

Segmental duplications ~very long, very similar copies

 An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Overlap-Layout-Consensus
Assemblers: ARACHNE, PHRAP, CAP, TIGR, CELERA

Overlap: find potentially overlapping reads

Layout: merge reads into contigs and

contigs into supercontigs

Consensus: derive the DNA

sequence and correct read errors ..ACGATTACAATAGGTT..
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Overlap
Find the best match between the suffix of one
read and the prefix of another

Due to sequencing errors, need to use

dynamic programming to find the optimal
overlap alignment

Apply a filtration method to filter out pairs of

fragments that do not share a significantly
long common substring
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Overlapping Reads
Sort all k-mers in reads (k ~ 24)

Find pairs of reads sharing a k-mer

Extend to full alignment throw away if not

>95% similar

TACA TAGATTACACAGATTAC T GA
|| ||||||||||||||||| | ||
TAGT TAGATTACACAGATTAC TAGA
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Overlapping Reads and Repeats

A k-mer that appears N times, initiates N2
comparisons

For an Alu that appears 106 times 1012

comparisons too much

Solution:
Discard all k-mers that appear more than
t Coverage, (t ~ 10)
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Finding Overlapping Reads

Create local multiple alignments from the

overlapping reads

TAGATTACACAGATTACTGA
TAGATTACACAGATTACTGA
TAG TTACACAGATTATTGA
TAGATTACACAGATTACTGA
TAGATTACACAGATTACTGA
TAGATTACACAGATTACTGA
TAG TTACACAGATTATTGA
TAGATTACACAGATTACTGA
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Layout
Repeats are a major challenge
Do two aligned fragments really overlap, or
are they from two copies of a repeat?
Solution: repeat masking hide the
repeats!!!
Masking results in high rate of misassembly
(up to 20%)
Misassembly means alot more work at the
finishing step
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Merge Reads into Contigs

repeat region

Merge reads up to potential repeat boundaries

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Repeats, Errors, and Contig Lengths

Repeats shorter than read length are OK

Repeats with more base pair differencess

than sequencing error rate are OK

To make a smaller portion of the genome

appear repetitive, try to:
Increase read length

Decrease sequencing error rate

An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Link Contigs into Supercontigs

Normal density

Too dense:
Overcollapsed?

Inconsistent links:
Overcollapsed?
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Consensus
A consensus sequence is derived from a
profile of the assembled fragments

A sufficient number of reads is required to

ensure a statistically significant consensus

Reading errors are corrected

An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Derive Consensus Sequence

TAGATTACACAGATTACTGA TTGATGGCGTAA CTA
TAGATTACACAGATTACTGACTTGATGGCGTAAACTA
TAG TTACACAGATTATTGACTTCATGGCGTAA CTA
TAGATTACACAGATTACTGACTTGATGGCGTAA CTA
TAGATTACACAGATTACTGACTTGATGGGGTAA CTA

TAGATTACACAGATTACTGACTTGATGGCGTAA CTA

Derive multiple alignment from pairwise read

alignments

Derive each consensus base by weighted

voting
 An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

EULER - A New Approach to

Fragment Assembly
Traditional overlap-layout-consensus technique
has a high rate of mis-assembly

EULER uses the Eulerian Path approach borrowed

from the SBH problem

Fragment assembly without repeat masking can be

done in linear time with greater accuracy
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Overlap Graph: Hamiltonian

Approach
Each vertex represents a read from the original sequence.
Vertices from repeats are connected to many others.
Repeat Repeat Repeat

Find a path visiting every VERTEX exactly once: Hamiltonian path problem
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Overlap Graph: Eulerian Approach

Repeat Repeat Repeat

Placing each repeat edge

together gives a clear
progression of the path
through the entire sequence.

Find a path visiting every EDGE

exactly once:
Eulerian path problem
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Multiple Repeats
Repeat1 Repeat2 Repeat1 Repeat2

Can be easily
constructed with any
number of repeats
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Construction of Repeat Graph

Construction of repeat graph from k mers:
emulates an SBH experiment with a huge
(virtual) DNA chip.

Breaking reads into k mers: Transform

sequencing data into virtual DNA chip data.
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Construction of Repeat Graph (contd)

Error correction in reads: consensus first
approach to fragment assembly. Makes
reads (almost) error-free BEFORE the
assembly even starts.

Using reads and mate-pairs to simplify the

repeat graph (Eulerian Superpath Problem).
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Approaches to Fragment Assembly

Find a path visiting every VERTEX exactly
once in the OVERLAP graph:

Hamiltonian path problem

NP-complete: algorithms unknown

An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Approaches to Fragment Assembly

(contd)

Find a path visiting every EDGE exactly once

in the REPEAT graph:

Eulerian path problem

Linear time algorithms are known

An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Making Repeat Graph Without DNA

Problem: Construct the repeat graph from a
collection of reads.

Solution: Break the reads into smaller pieces.

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Repeat Sequences: Emulating a

DNA Chip
Virtual DNA chip allows the biological
problem to be solved within the technological
constraints.
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Repeat Sequences: Emulating a

DNA Chip (contd)
Reads are constructed from an original
sequence in lengths that allow biologists a
high level of certainty.

They are then broken again to allow the

technology to sequence each within a
reasonable array.
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Minimizing Errors
If an error exists in one of the 20-mer reads,
the error will be perpetuated among all of the
smaller pieces broken from that read.
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Minimizing Errors (contd)

However, that error will not be present in the
other instances of the 20-mer read.

So it is possible to eliminate most point

mutation errors before reconstructing the
original sequence.
An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

Conclusions
Graph theory is a vital tool for solving
biological problems

Wide range of applications, including

sequencing, motif finding, protein networks,
and many more
 An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info

References

Simons, Robert W. Advanced Molecular Genetics Course,

UCLA (2002). http://www.mimg.ucla.edu/bobs/C159/
Presentations/Benzer.pdf

Batzoglou, S. Computational Genomics Course, Stanford

University (2004). http://www.stanford.edu/class/cs262/
handouts.html