name: bio-workflows-chipseq-pipeline description: Orchestrates the end-to-end ChIP-seq pipeline from FASTQ to blacklist-filtered, annotated peaks, chaining fastp QC, Bowtie2 alignment, pre-dedup library-complexity QC (NRF/PBC), duplicate removal, chrM + ENCODE-blacklist filtering, MACS3 peak calling against a matched input, IDR/consensus reproducibility, deepTools signal tracks, and ChIPseeker annotation. Use when committing the reference build + blacklist version + effective genome size once, pairing each IP with its matched control, computing complexity metrics BEFORE dedup, choosing narrow vs broad and MACS3 vs SEACR/Genrich, keeping per-replicate peaks for IDR, or avoiding depth-normalization that erases a spike-in global shift. Hands mechanism to the chip-seq component skills; not a re-teach of any single step. workflow: true depends_on: - read-qc/fastp-workflow - read-alignment/bowtie2-alignment - alignment-files/duplicate-handling - chip-seq/chipseq-qc - chip-seq/peak-calling - chip-seq/peak-annotation - chip-seq/differential-binding - chip-seq/chipseq-visualization - chip-seq/motif-analysis qc_checkpoints: - after_qc: "Q30 >85%, adapter content <5%" - after_alignment: "Mapping rate >80%, unique mapping >70%" - before_dedup: "NRF >0.8, PBC1 >0.8 (computed on the PRE-dedup BAM; after dedup the metric is meaningless)" - after_peaks: "FRiP >1% (TF) or >5% (sharp histone; broad marks run lower); NSC >1.05; RSC >0.8; fingerprint separates IP from input" - after_idr: "IDR rescue ratio max(Np,Nt)/min and self-consistency ratio max(N1,N2)/min both <=2 (ENCODE); IDR run on PER-REPLICATE peaks" origin: openai4s category: bioskills/workflows metadata: tool_type: mixed primary_tool: MACS3 third_party: name: GPTomics/bioSkills repository: https://github.com/GPTomics/bioSkills commit: d91ed3d563019e649dc854c56ccd62551359488a license: MIT
Reference examples tested with: Bowtie2 2.5.3+, MACS3 3.0+, HOMER 4.11+, bedtools 2.31+, deepTools 3.5+, fastp 0.23+, samtools 1.19+, ChIPseeker 1.38+
Before using code patterns, verify installed versions match. If versions differ:
- R: packageVersion('<pkg>') then ?function_name to verify parameters
- CLI: <tool> --version then <tool> --help to confirm flags
If code throws ImportError, AttributeError, or TypeError, introspect the installed package and adapt the example to match the actual API rather than retrying.
Note: macs3 callpeak -f BAMPE uses real fragment lengths and IGNORES --shift/--extsize/--nomodel (those apply to single-end -f BAM); the -g shortcut (hs/mm) sets the effective genome size and must match the build/read length. Confirm in-tool before quoting.
"Process my ChIP-seq data from FASTQ to annotated peaks" -> Chain QC/trim, alignment, pre-dedup complexity QC, dedup + blacklist filtering, control-matched peak calling, reproducibility, signal tracks, and annotation. - CLI + R: fastp -> bowtie2 -> (NRF/PBC pre-dedup) -> samtools markdup -> chrM/blacklist filter -> macs3 callpeak (IP vs input) -> IDR -> bamCoverage -> ChIPseeker
This is a workflow skill: it owns the chaining decisions and hand-offs, not the internals of any one step. Every step below cross-references the component skill that teaches its mechanism.
A ChIP-seq peakset is decided at four seams, not inside the caller.
markdup -r the duplicates are gone, so computing complexity afterward reads ~1.0 and is meaningless. Compute it on the filtered, position-sorted BAM before removing duplicates.--scaleFactor + --normalizeUsing None; for standard experiments RPKM/CPM is fine (chip-seq/spike-in-normalization).Reproducibility corollary: pool replicates for a consensus peakset, but keep PER-REPLICATE peaks — IDR needs individual replicates plus pooled pseudo-replicates; running IDR on an already-pooled peakset is not IDR.
FASTQ (IP + matched Input, replicates)
| [1] QC & trim -----------------> fastp (read-qc/fastp-workflow)
v
| [2] Align ---------------------> bowtie2 (-q30 unique) (read-alignment/bowtie2-alignment)
v ^-- commitment: build + blacklist version + effective genome size
| [3] Complexity QC (PRE-dedup) -> NRF/PBC1/PBC2 (chip-seq/chipseq-qc)
v
| [4] Dedup + filter ------------> markdup -r; drop chrM; SUBTRACT ENCODE blacklist (alignment-files/duplicate-handling)
v
| [5] Peak calling (IP vs input)-> macs3 callpeak (narrow | --broad) (chip-seq/peak-calling)
v ^-- keep PER-REPLICATE peaks for IDR
| [6] Reproducibility -----------> IDR (per-rep + pooled pseudo-reps) (chip-seq/peak-calling)
v
| [7] Signal tracks -------------> bamCoverage (RPKM | spike-in scaleFactor) (chip-seq/chipseq-visualization)
v
| [8] QC + Annotate -------------> FRiP/NSC/RSC/fingerprint; ChIPseeker (chip-seq/chipseq-qc, peak-annotation)
v
Blacklist-filtered, annotated, reproducible peaks
| Commitment | Choice | Consequence inherited downstream |
|---|---|---|
| Build + blacklist + effective genome size | One genome build; the matching ENCODE blacklist BED; -g hs/mm/numeric |
Mixed builds mis-place peaks; skipping the blacklist plants reproducible false peaks; wrong -g mis-scales p-values |
| Control pairing | Each IP has its input/IgG | No control => peaks at open chromatin / CN-amplified loci |
| Peak shape | Narrow (TF, H3K4me3, H3K27ac) vs broad (H3K27me3, H3K36me3, H3K9me3) | Broad marks called with narrow settings fragment into many small peaks |
| Fragment model | PE: -f BAMPE (real fragments); SE: -f BAM + --nomodel --extsize from predictd/xcorr |
BAMPE silently ignores --shift/--extsize |
samtools view -q 30), coordinate-sort.--broad).--scaleFactor + --normalizeUsing None for spike-in (order-trap: RPKM erases the spike-in global shift).Pipeline-level selection only; mechanism lives in the component skills.
| Fork | Lean toward | Hand off to |
|---|---|---|
| Caller | MACS3 (standard IP+input); SEACR (CUT&RUN/CUT&Tag, low background); Genrich (some ChIP/ATAC, built-in blacklist/replicate handling) | chip-seq/peak-calling, chip-seq/cut-and-run-tag |
| Narrow vs broad | Narrow: TFs, H3K4me3, H3K27ac. Broad (--broad --broad-cutoff 0.1): H3K27me3, H3K36me3, H3K9me3 |
chip-seq/peak-calling |
| Reproducibility | ENCODE IDR (per-rep + pooled pseudo-reps) for TFs; naive overlap acceptable for exploratory histone | chip-seq/peak-calling |
| Consensus set | Pool for a union/consensus set AFTER IDR selects the reproducible threshold | chip-seq/differential-binding |
Goal: turn IP+input FASTQ into a blacklist-filtered, control-matched, annotated peakset.
Approach: align and keep unique reads, measure complexity before dedup, dedup + drop chrM + subtract the blacklist, call against the control, then annotate. Full runnable script: examples/narrow_peak_workflow.sh; annotation: examples/peak_annotation.R.
bowtie2 -p 8 -x bt2_index/genome -1 trimmed/${s}_R1.fq.gz -2 trimmed/${s}_R2.fq.gz \
--no-mixed --no-discordant --maxins 1000 2> aligned/${s}.log \
| samtools view -@4 -bS -q 30 - | samtools sort -@4 -o aligned/${s}.sorted.bam
samtools index aligned/${s}.sorted.bam
# Complexity QC on the PRE-dedup BAM (NRF = distinct positions / total; PBC1 = singletons / distinct).
# Counted per-mate here (close to ENCODE fragment-level values); use `bamtobed -bedpe` for exact parity.
bedtools bamtobed -i aligned/${s}.sorted.bam | awk 'BEGIN{OFS="\t"}{print $1,$2,$3,$6}' | sort | uniq -c \
| awk '{tot+=$1; dist++; if($1==1) one++} END{printf "NRF=%.3f PBC1=%.3f\n", dist/tot, one/dist}'
# Dedup, drop chrM, then SUBTRACT the ENCODE blacklist (committed step, not optional)
samtools collate -@8 -O -u aligned/${s}.sorted.bam | samtools fixmate -m -u - - \
| samtools sort -@8 -u - | samtools markdup -r -@8 - aligned/${s}.dedup.bam
samtools index aligned/${s}.dedup.bam
samtools idxstats aligned/${s}.dedup.bam | cut -f1 | grep -v -e '^chrM$' -e '^MT$' \
| xargs samtools view -b aligned/${s}.dedup.bam > aligned/${s}.nochrM.bam
bedtools intersect -v -a aligned/${s}.nochrM.bam -b ENCODE_blacklist.bed > aligned/${s}.final.bam
samtools index aligned/${s}.final.bam
# Narrow (TFs, sharp marks) vs broad (spreading marks). -f BAMPE uses real fragment sizes.
macs3 callpeak -t aligned/IP_rep1.final.bam aligned/IP_rep2.final.bam \
-c aligned/Input_rep1.final.bam aligned/Input_rep2.final.bam \
-f BAMPE -g hs -n experiment --outdir peaks -q 0.01 --keep-dup all # dedup done upstream (markdup -r); tell MACS3 to keep all
# Broad marks: add --broad --broad-cutoff 0.1 (do NOT call H3K27me3 with narrow settings)
For IDR, call peaks PER REPLICATE (and on pooled pseudo-replicates) with a relaxed -q, then run idr across them (chip-seq/peak-calling). For higher confidence, intersect a second caller (HOMER -style histone for all histone marks).
# Standard experiment: RPKM/CPM is fine. SPIKE-IN experiment: this would ERASE the global shift.
bamCoverage -b aligned/IP_rep1.final.bam -o bigwig/IP_rep1.bw --normalizeUsing RPKM -p 8
# Spike-in (ChIP-Rx): bamCoverage --scaleFactor <spike-in factor> --normalizeUsing None (chip-seq/spike-in-normalization)
Annotation uses a project GTF via makeTxDbFromGFF() when provided, else a pre-built TxDb. overlap='all' couples gene assignment with feature overlap (host-gene convention); default overlap='TSS' assigns the nearest-TSS gene independently. Full code: examples/peak_annotation.R.
| After | Gate | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| QC/trim | Q30 >85%, adapter <5% | DNA higher quality than RNA |
| Alignment | Mapping >80%, unique >70% | Low unique = repeats/contamination/wrong build |
| PRE-dedup | NRF >0.8, PBC1 >0.8 | Low complexity = over-amplification/low input; MUST be computed before dedup |
| Peaks | FRiP >1% (TF) / >5% (sharp histone; broad marks run lower); NSC >1.05; RSC >0.8; fingerprint separates IP/input | Low FRiP/flat fingerprint = weak antibody or failed enrichment (chip-seq/chipseq-qc) |
| IDR | rescue ratio and self-consistency ratio both <=2 | Poor replicate consistency; run IDR on PER-replicate peaks |
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Reproducible peaks over satellite/rDNA/high-signal regions | ENCODE blacklist never subtracted | bedtools intersect -v the blacklist BED before calling (committed step) |
| NRF/PBC ~1.0 and uninformative | Computed after markdup -r |
Compute complexity on the PRE-dedup, filtered BAM |
| Peaks at open chromatin / CN-amplified loci | Called without a matched control | Pair each IP with its input/IgG in callpeak -c |
| H3K27me3/H3K9me3 fragmented into many tiny peaks | Broad mark called with narrow settings | Add --broad --broad-cutoff 0.1 |
--shift/--extsize had no effect |
Used with -f BAMPE (ignored for PE) |
Use -f BAM + --nomodel for SE; BAMPE derives fragments |
| Spike-in global shift disappears in tracks | bamCoverage RPKM/CPM re-equalized depth | --scaleFactor + --normalizeUsing None (chip-seq/spike-in-normalization) |
| "IDR" numbers look too good | IDR run on a pooled peakset | Run IDR on per-replicate peaks + pooled pseudo-replicates |
The complete runnable scripts are in this skill's examples/ (narrow_peak_workflow.sh, peak_annotation.R).