Extract Allele At Particular Positions From Bam Files

Is there an easy way to extract the allele (monomorphic or polymorphic wrt the reference) for a sample across all reads at specific locations, given its BAM file?

Example: The base at chr1 pos 45800 for that sample from its BAM file?

I do not want the allele from each read, but only the consensus. It is similar to an old post here: Get all alleles of 1 column in bam file

Thanks in advance

Update-1

I figure that samtools mpileup.. is the way to go, but I've been fiddling around for the past 2 days, but still haven't figured out the right set of flags.

This is what I got so far... (SNP_loci.txt is the file with the positions (chr pos) I want to extract the allele/genotype at)

$samtools mpileup -I -l SNP_loci.txt -Bf ref.fa sample1.bam
chr1        1000379 T       22      cCCcCcCCCCcCCCCcCccccc  IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
**chr1        1000400 A       19      .,...,....,.,,,,,,.     IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**
chr1        100017386       G       6       .$aAAAa IIIIII
chr1        100019654       T       19      CcCCccCccCC$cCcccccc    IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
chr1        100019657       G       18      TtTTttTttTtTtttttt      IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
chr1        100019756       A       12      gggGgggGGGGg    IIIIIIIIIIII
chr1        100020740       A       5       cCccc   IIIII
chr1        100022994       G       7       aAaaaaa IIIIIII
chr1        100023027       G       7       aAaaaaa IIIIIII
chr1        100030383       G       11      AAAAaAAaaAA     IIIIIIIIIII

Now, do I need to manually parse this based on the pileup format?

Wait, I suppose it could be piped with bcftools this way.. and then use vcftools

samtools mpileup -I -l SNP_loci.txt -Bf ref.fa sample1.bam | bcftools view -bvcg - > sample1.raw.bcf

But it ONLY reports variants/SNPs, however I need the match with reference too... basically the allele/genotype, whatever it is! I tried without the -vcg options, but the output is too filthy.

Basically I wish I could have something report this for the above data, with some quality attribute...

chr1        1000379 T       22      C
**chr1        1000400 A       19      A**
chr1        100017386       G       6       A
chr1        100019654       T       19      C
chr1        100019657       G       18      T
chr1        100019756       A       12      G
chr1        100020740       A       5       C
chr1        100022994       G       7       A
chr1        100023027       G       7       A
chr1        100030383       G       11      A

I know this is totally possible, but just can't figure how using samtools? Lack of knowledge & hence trying to reach out the experts out thr! Any suggestions please?

Update-2

Here are my attempts in more detail:

(1) With -vcg option for bcf tools (-v option reporting only variants/SNPs) - This format is perfect, however I'll miss the monomorphic alleles, which I NEED to keep (the second line above i.e., chr1:1000400)...

$samtools mpileup -I -l SNP_loci.txt -uBf ref.fa sample1.bam | bcftools view -bvcg - > sample1.bcf
$bcftools view sample1.bcf | vcfutils.pl varFilter -D100 > sample1.vcf
chr1        1000379 .       T       C       99      .       DP=22;AF1=1;CI95=1,1;DP4=0,0,12,10;MQ=60        PL:GT:GQ        255,66,0:1/1:99
chr1        100017386       .       G       A       99      .       DP=6;AF1=0.5016;CI95=0.5,0.5;DP4=1,0,3,2;MQ=60;PV4=1,1,1,1      PL:GT:GQ        156,0,22:0/1:25
chr1        100019654       .       T       C       99      .       DP=19;AF1=1;CI95=1,1;DP4=0,0,7,12;MQ=60 PL:GT:GQ        255,57,0:1/1:99
chr1        100019657       .       G       T       99      .       DP=18;AF1=1;CI95=1,1;DP4=0,0,6,12;MQ=60 PL:GT:GQ        255,54,0:1/1:99
chr1        100019756       .       A       G       99      .       DP=12;AF1=1;CI95=1,1;DP4=0,0,5,7;MQ=60  PL:GT:GQ        255,36,0:1/1:99
chr1        100020740       .       A       C       99      .       DP=5;AF1=1;CI95=0.5,1;DP4=0,0,1,4;MQ=60 PL:GT:GQ        164,15,0:1/1:75
chr1        100022994       .       G       A       99      .       DP=7;AF1=1;CI95=1,1;DP4=0,0,1,6;MQ=60   PL:GT:GQ        198,21,0:1/1:84
chr1        100023027       .       G       A       99      .       DP=7;AF1=1;CI95=1,1;DP4=0,0,1,6;MQ=60   PL:GT:GQ        198,21,0:1/1:84
chr1        100030383       .       G       A       99      .       DP=11;AF1=1;CI95=1,1;DP4=0,0,8,3;MQ=60  PL:GT:GQ        255,33,0:1/1:99

(2) Without the -vcg option, reports all alleles. Yes, the monomorphic one too!! However, what does this X mean? There is no quality scores attached to the calls. How do I parse this into something similar to in (1)? Can I trust those other SNP calls??

$samtools mpileup -I -l SNP_loci.txt -uBf ref.fa sample1.bam | bcftools view -b - > sample1.bcf
$bcftools view sample1.bcf | vcfutils.pl varFilter -D100 > sample1.vcf

chr1        1000379 .       T       C,X     0       .       DP=22;I16=0,0,12,10,0,0,880,35200,0,0,1320,79200,0,0,390,8052   PL      255,66,255,0,66,255
**chr1        1000400 .       A       X       0       .       DP=19;I16=10,9,0,0,760,30400,0,0,1140,68400,0,0,344,7816,0,0    PL      0,57,255**
chr1        100017386       .       G       A,X     0       .       DP=6;I16=1,0,3,2,40,1600,200,8000,60,3600,300,18000,0,0,117,2759        PL      156,0,159,22,37,188
chr1        100019654       .       T       C,X     0       .       DP=19;I16=0,0,7,12,0,0,760,30400,0,0,1140,68400,0,0,367,8105    PL      255,57,255,0,57,255
chr1        100019657       .       G       T,X     0       .       DP=18;I16=0,0,6,12,0,0,720,28800,0,0,1080,64800,0,0,370,8338    PL      255,54,255,0,54,255
chr1        100019756       .       A       G,X     0       .       DP=12;I16=0,0,5,7,0,0,480,19200,0,0,720,43200,0,0,208,4430      PL      255,36,255,0,36,255
chr1       100020740       .       A       C,X     0       .       DP=5;I16=0,0,1,4,0,0,200,8000,0,0,300,18000,0,0,125,3125        PL      164,15,164,0,15,164
chr1        100022994       .       G       A,X     0       .       DP=7;I16=0,0,1,6,0,0,280,11200,0,0,420,25200,0,0,160,3696       PL      198,21,198,0,21,198
chr1        100023027       .       G       A,X     0       .       DP=7;I16=0,0,1,6,0,0,280,11200,0,0,420,25200,0,0,145,3325       PL      198,21,198,0,21,198
chr1        100030383       .       G       A,X     0       .       DP=11;I16=0,0,8,3,0,0,440,17600,0,0,660,39600,0,0,239,5415      PL      255,33,255,0,33,255

Can someone please throw their experience at this? I'm really struggling with this... when the answer doesn't seem too far... It might just take a few mins for you, but will help me a lot!!

Thanks a bunch in advance!!!

bam consensus allele

• 16,512 views • link

written 12.4 years ago by guns.guru •

This would seem to be the same as normal SNP calling then, yes?

• 72 views • link

written 12.4 years ago by Devon Ryan

Ryan, thanks again... yes and no... I explain better below! I want to call the genotype - polymorphic or monomorphic (same as reference)

• 0 views • link

written 12.4 years ago by guns.guru •

I moved your answer to an update on your question.

• 0 views • link

written 12.4 years ago by Devon Ryan

You used the -v option, which explicitly tells bcftools to only report variant sites...

• 4 views • link

written 12.4 years ago by Devon Ryan

Ryan, I understand. But without using -v (meaning leaving out -cg too)... I'm unsure of the output format like reported above (in update-2). Thanks for correcting my post btw.

• 0 views • link

written 12.4 years ago by guns.guru •

-v forces -c to be on, but you can use -cg without using -v.

• 64 views • link

written 12.4 years ago by Devon Ryan

Yes, I used just -cg too. It doesn't report the monomorphic alleles. Output same as ONLY SNPs/variants

• 0 views • link

written 12.4 years ago by guns.guru •

4 answers

I think I figured the problem... Woohoo!! The vcfutils.pl is filtering out these monomorphic reference alleles, while bcftools reports them OK! Was only using vcfutils for varFilter -D max depth purposes, but who knew it was also the culprit here...

So, like Ryan suggested, do not use the -v option & I'm rerunning my SNP calling routine as follows. No vcfutils!!

samtools mpileup -I -uBf ref.fa sample1.bam | bcftools view -bcg - > sample1.bcf
bcftools view sample1.bcf > sample1.vcf

Thanks so much Ryan!!

• 30 views • link

written 12.4 years ago by guns.guru •

Glad you got it working and thanks for posting the update!

• 0 views • link

written 12.4 years ago by Devon Ryan

The new samtools mpileup can generate VCF output, although without genotype calling.

For those who might be interested in using a newer version (0.2.0-rc6) of samtools and bcftools, you can try this way:

samtools mpileup -uvDV -l sites.bed -f ref.fa input.bam | bcftools call -c - > output.vcf

• 84 views • link

updated 6.8 years ago by Ram

• written 12.4 years ago by hliang

Note that this command generates some warnings with the latest version of samtools

[warning] samtools mpileup option `-D` is functional, but deprecated. Please switch to `-t DP` in future.
[warning] samtools mpileup option `-V` is functional, but deprecated. Please switch to `-t DV` in future.

• 1 views • link

written 10.1 years ago by africys •

This solution works, the previous answers no longer work with the new version of samtools.

• 0 views • link

written 9.5 years ago by radlinsky •

I figure that samtools mpileup.. is the way to go, but I've been fiddling around for the past 2 days, but still haven't figured out the right set of flags.

This is what I got so far... (SNP_loci.txt is the file with the positions (chr pos) I want to extract the allele/genotype at)

$samtools mpileup -I -l SNP_loci.txt -Bf ref.fa sample1.bam
chr1        1000379 T       22      cCCcCcCCCCcCCCCcCccccc  IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
chr1        1000400 A       19      .,...,....,.,,,,,,.     IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
chr1        100017386       G       6       .$aAAAa IIIIII
chr1        100019654       T       19      CcCCccCccCC$cCcccccc    IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
chr1        100019657       G       18      TtTTttTttTtTtttttt      IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
chr1        100019756       A       12      gggGgggGGGGg    IIIIIIIIIIII
chr1        100020740       A       5       cCccc   IIIII
chr1        100022994       G       7       aAaaaaa IIIIIII
chr1        100023027       G       7       aAaaaaa IIIIIII
chr1        100030383       G       11      AAAAaAAaaAA     IIIIIIIIIII

Now, do I need to manually parse this based on the pileup format?

Wait, I suppose it could be piped with bcftools this way.. and then use vcftools

samtools mpileup -I -l SNP_loci.txt -Bf ref.fa sample1.bam | bcftools view -bvcg - > sample1.raw.bcf

But it ONLY reports variants/SNPs, however I need the match with reference too... basically the allele/genotype, whatever it is! I tried without the -vcg options, but the output is too filthy.

Basically I wish I could have something report this for the above data, with some quality attribute...

chr1        1000379 T       22      C
chr1        1000400 A       19      A
chr1        100017386       G       6       A
chr1        100019654       T       19      C
chr1        100019657       G       18      T
chr1        100019756       A       12      G
chr1        100020740       A       5       C
chr1        100022994       G       7       A
chr1        100023027       G       7       A
chr1        100030383       G       11      A

I know this is totally possible, but just can't figure how using samtools? Lack of knowledge & hence trying to reach out the experts out there! Any suggestions please?

• 0 views • link

updated 6.8 years ago by Ram

• written 12.4 years ago by guns.guru •

Thanks for the tip hliang! That's good to know. Actually, with my existing Version: 0.1.12a (r862) a single line command seems to work too..

samtools mpileup -uBI -l SNP_sites.bed -f ref.fa input.bam | bcftools view -cg - > output.vcf

• 0 views • link

written 12.4 years ago by guns.guru •

I've recently suggested Calculate The Frequency Of Nucleotides At Each Position In An Mpileup File on a similar post. Then you could check easily check the genotype.

• 0 views • link

written 12.3 years ago by favero.francesco