MapOptics: A light-weight, cross-platform visualisation tool for optical mapping alignment

Bionano optical mapping is a technology that can assist in the final stages of genome assembly by lengthening and ordering scaffolds in a draft assembly by aligning the assembly to a genomic map. However, currently, tools for visualisation are limited to use on a Windows operating system or are developed initially for visualising large-scale structural variation. MapOptics is a lightweight cross-platform tool that enables the user to visualise and interact with the alignment of Bionano optical mapping data and can be used for in depth exploration of hybrid scaffolding alignments. It provides a fast, simple alternative to the large optical mapping analysis programs currently available for this area of research.