Creating and managing sequence annotations

Annotating important regions on DNA and amino acid sequences

Sequence annotations identify important regions on DNA and amino acid sequences to help you keep track of what they do. This guide explains how to create, edit, display, and delete sequence annotations.

Before you begin

Before adding annotations, import DNA or amino acid sequences.

Watch this introductory video to learn annotation basics.

 
 

Create annotations

To create an annotation:

  1. In your sequence, click and drag your cursor to highlight your region of interest, then release the cursor to complete your selection.

  2. Click the flag icon at the top of the right-side panel.

  3. In the menu that displays, click New annotation, then enter the annotation name and type.

  4. Click Save annotation.

 
create annotation.gif
 

Edit annotations

To edit an existing annotation:

  1. Select the annotation, then click the flag icon at the top of the right-side panel.

  2. In the annotations menu, click Expanded annotations.

  3. In the expanded annotations list, click an annotation property to update it. Press Enter to save text edits.

In the expanded annotations list, you can edit:

  • Color - Annotation color that display in your sequence maps

  • Name - Annotation description

  • End point - Splice site at the end of your annotation

  • Start point - Splice site at the beginning of your annotation

  • Strand - Sequence orientation

  • Type - Sequence type

Display annotations

You can choose which annotations display on your sequence map in the annotations menu. To add or remove annotations, click the flag icon at the top of the right-side panel and check the annotations you want to display.

To filter annotations by type:

  1. In the annotations menu, click Filter visible by type.

  2. In the menu that appears, check the annotation types you want to display. The annotations menu will automatically check the annotations of that type.

  3. Select or remove any other specific annotations in the menu, then click the flag icon to minimize the window.

annotations by type.png

Delete annotations

To delete an annotation:

  1. Click the flag icon at the top of the right-side panel.

  2. In the annotations menu, click Expanded annotations.

  3. Select an annotation, then click the trash can icon.

 
annotations trash can.png
 

Delete multiple annotations

To delete multiple annotations, press and hold Ctrl (Command on a Mac) while clicking each annotation, then click the trash can icon.

 

Tip

To delete a series of annotations, click the first annotation. Press and hold Shift, click the last annotation, then click the trash can icon.