Bazam: A rapid method for read extraction and realignment of high throughput sequencing data

BackgroundAs costs of high throughput sequencing have fallen, we are seeing vast quantities of short read genomic data being generated. Often, the data is exchanged and stored as aligned reads, which provides high compression and convenient access for many analyses. However, aligned data becomes outdated as new reference genomes and alignment methods become available. Moreover, some applications cannot utilise pre-aligned reads at all, necessitating conversion back to raw format (FASTQ) before they can be used. In both cases, the process of extraction and realignment is expensive and time consuming.\n\nFindingsWe describe Bazam, a tool that efficiently extracts the original paired FASTQ from reads stored in aligned form (BAM or CRAM format). Bazam extracts reads in a format that directly allows realignment with popular aligners with high concurrency. Through eliminating steps and increasing the accessible concurrency, Bazam facilitates up to a 90% reduction in the time required for realignment compared to standard methods. Bazam can support selective extraction of read pairs from focused genomic regions, further increasing efficiency for targeted analyses. Bazam is additionally suitable as a base for other applications that require efficient paired read information, such as quality control, structural variant calling and alignment comparison.\n\nConclusionsBazam offers significant improvements for users needing to realign genomic data.