5.1.31. shuffle

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# 5.1.31. shuffle

bedtools shuffle will randomly permute the genomic locations of a feature file among a genome defined in a genome file. One can also provide an “exclusions” BED/GFF/VCF file that lists regions where you do not want the permuted features to be placed. For example, one might want to prevent features from being placed in known genome gaps. shuffle is useful as a null basis against which to test the significance of associations of one feature with another.

See also

random jaccard

## 5.1.31.1. Usage and option summary

Usage:

    bedtools shuffle [OPTIONS] -i <BED/GFF/VCF> -g <GENOME>

(or):

    shuffleBed [OPTIONS] -i <BED/GFF/VCF> -g <GENOME>

Option | Description
--- | ---
-excl | A BED file of coordinates in which features from -i should not be placed (e.g., genome gaps).
-incl | A BED file of coordinates in which features from -i should be placed.
-chrom | Keep features in -i on the same chromosome. Solely permute their location on the chromosome. By default, both the chromosome and position are randomly chosen.
-seed | Supply an integer seed for the shuffling. This will allow feature shuffling experiments to be recreated exactly as the seed for the pseudo-random number generation will be constant. By default, the seed is chosen automatically.
-f | Maximum overlap (as a fraction of the `-i` feature) with an `-excl` feature that is tolerated before searching for a new, randomized locus.
-chromFirst | Instead of choosing a position randomly among the entire genome (the default), first choose a chrom randomly, and then choose a random start coordinate on that chrom. This leads to features being ~uniformly distributed among the chroms, as opposed to features being distribute as a function of chrom size.
-bedpe | Indicate that the A file is in BEDPE format.
-maxTries | Max. number of attempts to find a home for a shuffled interval in the presence of -incl or -excl. Default = 1000.
-noOverlapping | Don’t allow shuffled intervals to overlap.
-allowBeyondChromEnd | Allow the original the length of the original records to extebd beyond the length of the chromosome.

## 5.1.31.2. Default behavior

By default, bedtools shuffle will reposition each feature in the input BED file on a random chromosome at a random position. The size and strand of each feature are preserved.

For example:

    $ cat A.bed
    chr1  0  100  a1  1  +
    chr1  0  1000 a2  2  -

    $ cat my.genome
    chr1  10000
    chr2  8000
    chr3  5000
    chr4  2000

    $ bedtools shuffle -i A.bed -g my.genome
    chr4  1498  1598  a1  1  +
    chr3  2156  3156  a2  2  -

## 5.1.31.3. `-chrom` Requiring that features be shuffled on the same chromosome

The -chrom option behaves the same as the default behavior except that features are randomly placed on the same chromosome as defined in the BED file.

    $ cat A.bed
    chr1  0  100  a1  1  +
    chr1  0  1000 a2  2  -

    $ cat my.genome
    chr1  10000
    chr2  8000
    chr3  5000
    chr4  2000

    $ bedtools shuffle -i A.bed -g my.genome -chrom
    chr1  9560  9660  a1  1  +
    chr1  7258  8258  a2  2  -

## 5.1.31.4. `-excl` Excluding certain genome regions from `bedtools shuffle`

One may want to prevent BED features from being placed in certain regions of the genome. For example, one may want to exclude genome gaps from permutation experiment. The excl option defines a BED file of regions that should be excluded. `bedtools shuffle` will attempt to permute the locations of all features while adhering to the exclusion rules. However it will stop looking for an appropriate location if it cannot find a valid spot for a feature after 1,000,000 tries.

For example (note that the exclude file excludes all but 100 base pairs of the chromosome):

    $ cat A.bed
    chr1  0  100   a1  1  +
    chr1  0  1000  a2  2  -

    $ cat my.genome
    chr1  10000

    $ cat exclude.bed
    chr1  100  10000

    $ bedtools shuffle -i A.bed -g my.genome -excl exclude.bed
    chr1  0  100  a1  1  +
    Error, line 2: tried 1000000 potential loci for entry, but could not avoid excluded
    regions. Ignoring entry and moving on.

For example (now the exclusion file only excludes the first 100 bases of the chromosome):

    $ cat A.bed
    chr1  0  100  a1  1  +
    chr1  0  1000 a2  2  -

    $ cat my.genome
    chr1  10000

    $ cat exclude.bed
    chr1  0  100

    $ bedtools shuffle -i A.bed -g my.genome -excl exclude.bed
    chr1  147  247  a1  1  +
    chr1  2441 3441 a2  2  -

## 5.1.31.5. `-seed` Defining a “seed” for the random replacement.

bedtools shuffle uses a pseudo-random number generator to permute the locations of BED features. Therefore, each run should produce a different result. This can be problematic if one wants to exactly recreate an experiment. By using the seed option, one can supply a custom integer seed for bedtools shuffle. In turn, each execution of bedtools shuffle with the same seed and input files should produce identical results.

For example (note that the exclude file below excludes all but 100 base pairs of the chromosome):

    $ cat A.bed
    chr1 0 100 a1 1 +
    chr1 0 1000 a2 2 -

    $ cat my.genome
    chr1 10000

    $ bedtools shuffle -i A.bed -g my.genome -seed 927442958
    chr1 6177 6277 a1 1 +
    chr1 8119 9119 a2 2 -

    $ bedtools shuffle -i A.bed -g my.genome -seed 927442958
    chr1 6177 6277 a1 1 +
    chr1 8119 9119 a2 2 -

    . . .

    $ bedtools shuffle -i A.bed -g my.genome -seed 927442958
    chr1 6177 6277 a1 1 +
    chr1 8119 9119 a2 2 -

## 5.1.31.6. `-noOverlapping` Prevent shuffled intervals from overlapping.

There often arise cases where one wants to shuffle intervals throughout the genome, yet one wants to prevent the intervals from occupying a single common base pair. The `-noOverlapping` option allows one to enforce no such overlaps.

    $ bedtools shuffle -i A.bed -g my.genome -noOverlapping

## 5.1.31.7. `-allowBeyondChromEnd` Allow records to extend beyond the chrom. length.

By default, `shuffle` requires that an interval’s original length must be fully-contained within the chromosome. Yet there are cases where you might want to allow shuffled intervals to be relocated to a position in which the entire original interval cannot fit w/o exceeding the end of the chromosome. By using the `-noOverlapping` option, `shuffle` will allow intervals to be shuffled to locations that are so close to the chromosome end that the full length of the original record cannot be contained within the chromosome length. In such cases, the end coordinate for the shuffled interval will be set (i.e., truncated) to the chromosome’s length.

    $ bedtools shuffle -i A.bed -g my.genome -allowBeyondChromEnd

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