rnalalifold
Quick Start
- Command:
RNALalifold [options] <file1.aln> - Local executable:
/home/vimalinx/miniforge3/envs/bio/bin/RNALalifold - Full reference: See references/help.md for complete options and details
When To Use This Tool
- Scan an RNA multiple sequence alignment for locally stable consensus structures.
- Find short structured elements inside long aligned regions instead of folding whole transcripts globally.
- Tune the maximum base-pair span for locality-sensitive searches.
- Export hit-specific alignments or CSV summaries for downstream review.
Common Patterns
# 1) Scan an alignment for local consensus structures
RNALalifold family.aln
# 2) Tighten the local window size
RNALalifold -L 100 family.aln
# 3) Emit CSV plus per-hit alignment outputs
RNALalifold --csv --aln hits family.aln > local_hits.txt
Recommended Workflow
- Prepare input as a multiple sequence alignment file (MSA) in supported format
- Set maximum base pair span with
-Lif different from default 70 - Run
RNALalifoldwith appropriate options (e.g.,--threshold,--csv,--alnfor output) - Review output consensus structures and energy values per hit
Guardrails
- Input must be an aligned RNA sequence file (MSA); verify format matches
-foption if specified - Memory usage scales as O(n+LL) and CPU time as O(nL*L) where L is maxBPspan
- Default threshold of -0.1 kcal/mol per nucleotide filters weak structure hits; adjust with
--thresholdif needed