About Orphos - The Browser-Based Prodigal Alternative
Orphos is a high-performance Rust implementation of the Prodigal gene prediction algorithm,
designed for finding protein-coding genes in bacterial and archaeal genomes. Unlike traditional Prodigal
which requires installation, Orphos runs entirely in your web browser using WebAssembly technology.
Why Use Orphos Instead of Prodigal?
- No Installation Required: Run gene prediction instantly without installing Python, Prodigal, or any dependencies
- Privacy First: All analysis runs locally in your browser - your sequences never leave your computer
- Fast Performance: Powered by Rust and WebAssembly for near-native speed
- Prodigal-Compatible: Implements the same dynamic programming algorithm as Prodigal
- Cross-Platform: Works on any device with a modern web browser (Windows, Mac, Linux, even mobile)
- Always Available: No server downtime or API rate limits
Features
- Prokaryotic gene finding for bacterial and archaeal genomes
- Single genome and metagenomic analysis modes
- Multiple output formats: GFF3, GenBank (GBK), SCO, GCA
- Support for all standard genetic codes (translation tables 1-25)
- Advanced options: closed ends, masked N-runs, forced gene models
- Real-time analysis with instant results
Use Cases
Perfect for microbiologists, bioinformaticians, and genomics researchers who need to:
- Annotate bacterial or archaeal genomes
- Identify protein-coding genes in prokaryotic sequences
- Analyze metagenomic assemblies and contigs
- Perform quick ORF finding and gene calling
- Validate genome annotations
- Process FASTA sequences without command-line tools
How It Works
Orphos implements the same dynamic programming genefinding algorithm as Prodigal, using:
- Hidden Markov Models (HMM) for gene structure prediction
- Shine-Dalgarno motif detection for ribosomal binding sites
- GC frame bias analysis
- Start codon scoring and selection
- Anonymous training on input sequences
Supported Input
Upload or paste FASTA format sequences (.fasta, .fa, .fna files). Works with:
- Complete bacterial genomes
- Complete archaeal genomes
- Plasmids and chromosomes
- Metagenomic contigs and scaffolds
- Draft genome assemblies
Open Source
Orphos is free and open source software licensed under GPL-3.0.
View source code on GitHub