starlong-sse4-1
Quick Start
- Command:
STARlong-sse4.1 - Local executable:
/home/vimalinx/miniforge3/envs/bio/bin/STARlong-sse4.1 - Full reference: See
references/help.mdfor complete parameter documentation
When To Use This Tool
- Align long RNA-seq reads from PacBio or Nanopore with STARlong.
- Build or reuse STAR-compatible genome indices for long-read splice-aware mapping.
- Map full-length transcript reads while keeping STAR-style splice-junction outputs.
- Run a long-read-focused STAR wrapper using the SSE4.1-optimized binary.
Common Patterns
# 1) Build a genome index for STARlong
STARlong-sse4.1 \
--runMode genomeGenerate \
--genomeDir starlong_index \
--genomeFastaFiles genome.fa \
--sjdbGTFfile genes.gtf \
--runThreadN 16
# 2) Align long reads from FASTQ
STARlong-sse4.1 \
--genomeDir starlong_index \
--readFilesIn longreads.fastq \
--runThreadN 16
# 3) Align gzipped long reads and emit sorted BAM
STARlong-sse4.1 \
--genomeDir starlong_index \
--readFilesIn longreads.fastq.gz \
--readFilesCommand zcat \
--outSAMtype BAM SortedByCoordinate \
--runThreadN 16
Recommended Workflow
- Generate a genome index:
STARlong-sse4.1 --runMode genomeGenerate --genomeDir /path/to/index --genomeFastaFiles ref.fa --sjdbGTFfile annotations.gtf - Prepare long-read input files in FASTA/FASTQ format
- Align reads:
STARlong-sse4.1 --genomeDir /path/to/index --readFilesIn reads.fq --runThreadN N - Review output alignments (SAM/BAM) and splice junction files (SJ.out.tab)
Guardrails
- Always generate or obtain a compatible genome index before running alignment
- Scale
--genomeSAindexNbasesdown for small genomes (min(14, log2(GenomeLength)/2 - 1)) - Ensure input format matches
--readFilesType(default Fastx for FASTA/FASTQ)