The IBG GeneDesigner is a component of the IBG Protein Desktop application which can be used to generate a DNA sequence from a given protein or amino acid sequnce that is optimized for protein expression and experimental manipulation. The application attempts to match codon frequency preference for the expression vector of the gene to ensure enhanced expression over random codon choice. Restriction enzyme sites can be requested for either inclusion or exclusion in the generated sequence. In addition, relative nucleotide frequency can be manipulated to prevent high GC content in the output sequence.
Functions
organism codon preference matching
restriction site manipulation
nucleotide frequency shaping
oligonucleotide generation **In progress**
Algorithm
The GeneDesigner uses a genetic algorithm to sample the large number of candidate sequences which are possible for a given amino acid sequence. Several of the GA parameters can be manipulated in the application:
Mutation rate
Crossover types **In progress**
Population size
Number of Generations
Convergence factors **In progress**
Future work
As noted above, work on the GeneDesigner is in progress. We are currently finalizing the oligonucleotide generation algorithm and will be updating the graphical interface to simply the gene construction process. Future efforts will include a web-based version which uses the strength-Pareto algorithm for multiobjective optimization