RNA-Seq Data Analysis for Differential Gene Expression Using HISAT2–StringTie–Ballgown Pipeline

Comparison of transcriptome for candidate gene discovery has become an important tool for biologists. While such studies lack the degree of resolution one gets from well-designed forward or reverse genetic studies, nevertheless, this has been a method of choice for giving coarse insight into the underlying biological processes or mechanisms. This was further accelerated with the availability of sequencing technologies. While many pipelines are available for RNA-seq data analysis, the protocol discussed here will guide the first-time users for conducting routine RNA-seq analysis using whole genome sequence as reference.