| name | read-alignment-bowtie2-alignment |
| description | Align short reads using Bowtie2 with local or end-to-end modes. Supports gapped alignment. Use when aligning ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq, or when flexible alignment modes are needed. |
| tool_type | cli |
| primary_tool | bowtie2 |
Version Compatibility
Reference examples tested with: samtools 1.19+
Before using code patterns, verify installed versions match. If versions differ:
- CLI:
<tool> --version then <tool> --help to confirm flags
If code throws ImportError, AttributeError, or TypeError, introspect the installed
package and adapt the example to match the actual API rather than retrying.
Bowtie2 Alignment
"Align DNA reads with Bowtie2" -> Map short reads to a reference genome using Bowtie2's end-to-end or local alignment modes.
- CLI:
bowtie2 -x index -1 R1.fq -2 R2.fq | samtools sort -o aligned.bam
Build Index
bowtie2-build reference.fa reference_index
bowtie2-build --threads 8 reference.fa reference_index
Basic Alignment
bowtie2 -p 8 -x reference_index -1 reads_1.fq.gz -2 reads_2.fq.gz -S aligned.sam
bowtie2 -p 8 -x reference_index -U reads.fq.gz -S aligned.sam
bowtie2 -p 8 -x reference_index -1 r1.fq.gz -2 r2.fq.gz | \
samtools sort -@ 4 -o aligned.sorted.bam -
Alignment Modes
bowtie2 --end-to-end -x index -1 r1.fq -2 r2.fq -S aligned.sam
bowtie2 --local -x index -1 r1.fq -2 r2.fq -S aligned.sam
Sensitivity Presets
bowtie2 --very-fast -x index -1 r1.fq -2 r2.fq -S aligned.sam
bowtie2 --fast -x index -1 r1.fq -2 r2.fq -S aligned.sam
bowtie2 --sensitive -x index -1 r1.fq -2 r2.fq -S aligned.sam
bowtie2 --very-sensitive -x index -1 r1.fq -2 r2.fq -S aligned.sam
bowtie2 --very-sensitive-local -x index -1 r1.fq -2 r2.fq -S aligned.sam
ChIP-seq Alignment
bowtie2 -p 8 \
--very-sensitive \
--no-mixed \
--no-discordant \
-x index -1 chip_1.fq.gz -2 chip_2.fq.gz | \
samtools view -bS -q 30 -F 4 - | \
samtools sort -o chip.sorted.bam -
ATAC-seq Alignment
bowtie2 -p 8 \
--very-sensitive \
-X 2000 \
--no-mixed \
--no-discordant \
-x index -1 atac_1.fq.gz -2 atac_2.fq.gz | \
samtools view -bS -q 30 - | \
samtools sort -o atac.sorted.bam -
Fragment Size Options
bowtie2 -p 8 \
-I 100 \
-X 500 \
-x index -1 r1.fq -2 r2.fq -S aligned.sam
Read Group and Output Options
bowtie2 -p 8 \
--rg-id sample1 \
--rg SM:sample1 \
--rg PL:ILLUMINA \
--rg LB:lib1 \
-x index -1 r1.fq -2 r2.fq -S aligned.sam
Multi-mapping Reads
bowtie2 -k 5 -x index -1 r1.fq -2 r2.fq -S aligned.sam
bowtie2 -a -x index -1 r1.fq -2 r2.fq -S aligned.sam
Output Unmapped Reads
bowtie2 -p 8 \
--un-conc-gz unmapped_%.fq.gz \
-x index -1 r1.fq.gz -2 r2.fq.gz -S aligned.sam
Key Parameters
| Parameter | Default | Description |
|---|
| -p | 1 | Number of threads |
| -x | - | Index basename |
| -1/-2 | - | Paired-end reads |
| -U | - | Single-end reads |
| -I | 0 | Min fragment length |
| -X | 500 | Max fragment length |
| -k | 1 | Report up to k alignments |
| --no-mixed | off | Suppress unpaired alignments |
| --no-discordant | off | Suppress discordant alignments |
Alignment Statistics
bowtie2 -p 8 -x index -1 r1.fq -2 r2.fq -S aligned.sam 2> alignment_stats.txt
Example output:
1000000 reads; of these:
1000000 (100.00%) were paired; of these:
50000 (5.00%) aligned concordantly 0 times
900000 (90.00%) aligned concordantly exactly 1 time
50000 (5.00%) aligned concordantly >1 times
95.00% overall alignment rate
Related Skills
- read-qc/fastp-workflow - Preprocess reads before alignment
- alignment-files/alignment-sorting - Post-alignment processing
- chip-seq/peak-calling - ChIP-seq analysis
- atac-seq/atac-peak-calling - ATAC-seq analysis