DrForna: visualization of cotranscriptional folding

Abstract

Abstract Motivation Understanding RNA folding at the level of secondary structures can give important insights concerning the function of a molecule. We are interested to learn how secondary structures change dynamically during transcription, as well as whether particular secondary structures form already during or only after transcription. While different approaches exist to simulate cotranscriptional folding, the current strategies for visualization are lagging behind. New, more suitable approaches are necessary to help with exploring the generated data from cotranscriptional folding simulations. Results We present DrForna, an interactive visualization app for viewing the time course of a cotranscriptional RNA folding simulation. Specifically, users can scroll along the time axis and see the population of structures that are present at any particular time point. Availability and implementation DrForna is a JavaScript project available on Github at https://github.com/ViennaRNA/drforna and deployed at https://viennarna.github.io/drforna