Genomes are organized into nuclear compartments, separating active from inactive chromatin. Chromatin compartments are readily visible in a large number of species by experiments that map chromatin conformation genome-wide. When analyzing these maps, a common step is the identification of genomic intervals that interact within A (active) and B (inactive) compartments. It has also become increasingly common to identify and analyze subcompartments. We review different strategies to identify A/B and subcompartment intervals, including a discussion of various machine-learning approaches to predict these features. We then discuss the strengths and limitations of current strategies and examine how these aspects of analysis may have impacted our understanding of chromatin compartments.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.