prepRNA: an integrative tool for Illumina RNAseq data filtering

Abstract

The vast amount of currently available transcriptome sequences is comprised of Illumina RNAseq data. Usually, publicly available datasets are provided as raw data and preparing them for the downstream NGS analysis is the first step required. Such preprocessing step, besides the evaluation of the quality of the raw data, includes data filtering, in order to provide high quality results of the downstream analysis. Existing tools for NGS data filtering are either too general or incomplete for the Illumina RNAseq filtering task, which is why a new tool for this endeavor was needed. We present prepRNA, a novel tool intended for Illumina RNAseq data filtering, which was designed as a comprehensive and user-friendly wrapper tool with possibility of further upgrading with a quality control option.