Gene fusion detection in long-read transcriptome sequencing data with GFvoter

Abstract Gene fusion is a prevalent occurrence in cancer patients, and fusions are significant both as diagnostic biomarkers and as therapeutic targets for cancer. Long-read transcriptome sequencing technology provides new opportunities for gene fusion detection. In this research, we have developed...

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Main Authors: Xiaolan Zhao, Zitong Ren, Junhai Qi, Enfeng Qi, Xiaoyu Zhao, Guojun Li, Ting Yu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-06-01
Series:BMC Genomics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-025-11866-6
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author Xiaolan Zhao
Zitong Ren
Junhai Qi
Enfeng Qi
Xiaoyu Zhao
Guojun Li
Ting Yu
author_facet Xiaolan Zhao
Zitong Ren
Junhai Qi
Enfeng Qi
Xiaoyu Zhao
Guojun Li
Ting Yu
author_sort Xiaolan Zhao
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Gene fusion is a prevalent occurrence in cancer patients, and fusions are significant both as diagnostic biomarkers and as therapeutic targets for cancer. Long-read transcriptome sequencing technology provides new opportunities for gene fusion detection. In this research, we have developed GFvoter, a novel method that employs a multivoting strategy to identify gene fusions from long-read transcriptome sequencing data. GFvoter calls two RNA-seq aligners, two fusion detection tools, and a newly designed scoring mechanism to conduct the so-called voting process in turn, which enables the accurate detection of potential fusions. We validated GFvoter using both simulated and real cell line datasets from PacBio and Nanopore and found that GFvoter significantly outperforms alternative methods. Moreover, GFvoter successfully reported the RPS6KB1:VMP1 gene fusion in the MCF-7 cell line, while none of the other tested tools detected this fusion. Overall, our findings show that GFvoter can accurately identify gene fusions from long-read RNA-seq data, which has the potential to improve cancer diagnosis and treatment. GFvoter is available at https://github.com/xiaolan-z/GFvoter .
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institution Kabale University
issn 1471-2164
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
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series BMC Genomics
spelling doaj-art-5edd66e560a9454dabe08d3960ec7d712025-08-20T03:45:47ZengBMCBMC Genomics1471-21642025-06-0126111010.1186/s12864-025-11866-6Gene fusion detection in long-read transcriptome sequencing data with GFvoterXiaolan Zhao0Zitong Ren1Junhai Qi2Enfeng Qi3Xiaoyu Zhao4Guojun Li5Ting Yu6Research Center for Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Frontiers Science Center for Nonlinear Expectations (Ministry of Education), Shandong UniversityResearch Center for Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Frontiers Science Center for Nonlinear Expectations (Ministry of Education), Shandong UniversityResearch Center for Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Frontiers Science Center for Nonlinear Expectations (Ministry of Education), Shandong UniversitySchool of Mathematics and Statistics, Guangxi Normal UniversitySchool of Mathematics, Hefei University of TechnologyResearch Center for Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Frontiers Science Center for Nonlinear Expectations (Ministry of Education), Shandong UniversityResearch Center for Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Frontiers Science Center for Nonlinear Expectations (Ministry of Education), Shandong UniversityAbstract Gene fusion is a prevalent occurrence in cancer patients, and fusions are significant both as diagnostic biomarkers and as therapeutic targets for cancer. Long-read transcriptome sequencing technology provides new opportunities for gene fusion detection. In this research, we have developed GFvoter, a novel method that employs a multivoting strategy to identify gene fusions from long-read transcriptome sequencing data. GFvoter calls two RNA-seq aligners, two fusion detection tools, and a newly designed scoring mechanism to conduct the so-called voting process in turn, which enables the accurate detection of potential fusions. We validated GFvoter using both simulated and real cell line datasets from PacBio and Nanopore and found that GFvoter significantly outperforms alternative methods. Moreover, GFvoter successfully reported the RPS6KB1:VMP1 gene fusion in the MCF-7 cell line, while none of the other tested tools detected this fusion. Overall, our findings show that GFvoter can accurately identify gene fusions from long-read RNA-seq data, which has the potential to improve cancer diagnosis and treatment. GFvoter is available at https://github.com/xiaolan-z/GFvoter .https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-025-11866-6Gene fusion detectionLong-read transcriptome sequencingMultivotingScoring mechanism
spellingShingle Xiaolan Zhao
Zitong Ren
Junhai Qi
Enfeng Qi
Xiaoyu Zhao
Guojun Li
Ting Yu
Gene fusion detection in long-read transcriptome sequencing data with GFvoter
BMC Genomics
Gene fusion detection
Long-read transcriptome sequencing
Multivoting
Scoring mechanism
title Gene fusion detection in long-read transcriptome sequencing data with GFvoter
title_full Gene fusion detection in long-read transcriptome sequencing data with GFvoter
title_fullStr Gene fusion detection in long-read transcriptome sequencing data with GFvoter
title_full_unstemmed Gene fusion detection in long-read transcriptome sequencing data with GFvoter
title_short Gene fusion detection in long-read transcriptome sequencing data with GFvoter
title_sort gene fusion detection in long read transcriptome sequencing data with gfvoter
topic Gene fusion detection
Long-read transcriptome sequencing
Multivoting
Scoring mechanism
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-025-11866-6
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AT zitongren genefusiondetectioninlongreadtranscriptomesequencingdatawithgfvoter
AT junhaiqi genefusiondetectioninlongreadtranscriptomesequencingdatawithgfvoter
AT enfengqi genefusiondetectioninlongreadtranscriptomesequencingdatawithgfvoter
AT xiaoyuzhao genefusiondetectioninlongreadtranscriptomesequencingdatawithgfvoter
AT guojunli genefusiondetectioninlongreadtranscriptomesequencingdatawithgfvoter
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