Enhancement and scaling of the bioinformatic web application Virtool for plant and animal health diagnostics

Funding period: 2020-2023
Leads: Ian Boyes and Mike Rott
Total GRDI funding: $229,000

High-Throughput Sequencing (HTS) enables rapid accurate detection and characterization of pathogens, using specialized software systems for data management and analysis. The CFIA developed Virtool (www.virtool.ca), a web application to manage, track and analyze HTS data. Virtool's primary purpose is to detect viruses and viroids in commercially important plants. Virtool is designed for diagnosticians who are not familiar with command line software but are comfortable with modern web interfaces. It supports protocols developed by the CFIA and conforms to international laboratory testing standards in accordance to International Standards Organisation (ISO) 17025. To support these requirements, Virtool provides extensive auditing of user activity, password-protected user access and permissioning, versioning and tracking of changes to reference databases, and tested, predictable workflows. This project aims to transform Virtool into a cloud-native application that can service a broad audience.