Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41637390›Full record

ArticlePLoS computational biology2026

TARPON-A Telomere Analysis and Research Pipeline Optimized for Nanopore.

Nathaniel Deimler, David V Ho, Norbert Paul, Zoë Gill, Peter Baumann

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PLoS computational biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Nathaniel DeimlerDepartment of Biology, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0006-4466-0360
David V HoDepartment of Biology, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4709-269X
Norbert PaulInstitute for the History, Philosophy, and Ethics of Medicine, Johannes Gutenberg University Medical Center, Mainz Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8288-6727
Zoë GillDepartment of Biology, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.
Peter BaumannDepartment of Biology, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4892-1485

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Long-read sequencing has transformed many areas of biology and holds significant promise for telomere research by enabling analysis of nucleotide-level resolution chromosome arm-specific telomere length in both model organisms and humans. However, the adoption of new technologies, particularly in clinical or diagnostic contexts, requires careful validation to recognize potential technical and computational limitations. We present TARPON (Telomere Analysis and Research Pipeline Optimized for Nanopore), a best-practices Nextflow pipeline designed for the analysis of telomeres sequenced on the Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) platform. TARPON can be executed via the command line or integrated into ONT's EPI2ME agent, providing a user-friendly graphical interface for those without computational training. Nextflow's container-based architecture eliminates dependency conflicts, thereby streamlining deployment across platforms. TARPON isolates telomeric repeat-containing reads, assigns strand specificity, and identifies enrichment probes that can be used both for demultiplexing and for confirming capture-based library preparation. To ensure that the analysis is restricted to full-length telomeres, reads lacking a capture probe or non-telomeric sequence on the opposite end are excluded. A sliding-window approach defines the subtelomere-to-telomere boundary, followed by quality filtering to remove low-quality or subtelomeric reads that passed earlier steps. The pipeline generates customizable statistics, text-based summaries, and publication-ready visualizations (HTML, PNG, PDF). While default settings are optimized for diagnostic workflows, all parameters are easily adjustable via the GUI or command line to support diverse applications. These include telomere analyses in variant-rich samples (e.g., ALT-positive tumors) and organisms with non-canonical telomeric repeats such as some insects (GTTAG) and certain plants (GGTTTAG). TARPON is the first complete and experimentally validated pipeline for Nanopore-based telomere analysis requiring no data pre-processing or prior bioinformatics expertise, while offering flexibility for advanced users.

Indexed as

High-Throughput Nucleotide SequencingNanoporesSequence Analysis, DNATelomereAnimalsComputational BiologyHumansSoftware

Identifiers

PMID41637390
PMCPMC12871981

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.