Genome and transcript sequencing are common tools in molecular biology and genetics research, but most researchers in these fields do not have the computer science knowledge or server access to use the common bioinformatics tools to analyze these data. Bioinformatics tools that are user-friendly and allow access to server resources via the web are becoming more common. The goal of this project was to design and implement a web-based DNA annotation pipeline that allows researchers to analyze their DNA sequences with command line based annotation tools though a graphical user interface. The Genome Sequence Annotation Server (GenSAS) allows users to upload DNA sequences, create a task of user selected annotation tools, and submit the task to the server for execution. Users return to the GenSAS web page to view and work with the results when the task is complete. Results from tasks are visualized in the GenSAS Browser and users can create custom curation tracks by selecting features from the results of the annotation tools. Users export their results in the GFF3 file format which is compatible with many downstream bioinformatics tools and genome browsers. We have tested GenSAS with DNA from a variety of organisms and of different lengths and GenSAS has been further tested in undergraduate and graduate classes. Based on feedback from users, GenSAS is an easy to use customizable online DNA annotation pipeline tool that allows users with little computer science knowledge to create a custom DNA annotation for their sequence(s) of interest.
