Estimating NGS paired-end read insert size (or fragment length) from SAM/BAM files

getinsertsize.py

#!/usr/bin/env python
'''
Automatically estimate insert size of the paired-end reads for a given SAM/BAM file.
Usage: getinsertsize.py <SAM file> or samtools view <BAM file> | getinsertsize.py -
Author: Wei Li

Copyright (c) <2015> <Wei Li>



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'''


from __future__ import print_function
import sys;
import pydoc;
import os;
import re;
import fileinput;
import math;
import argparse;

parser=argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Automatically estimate the insert size of the paired-end reads for a given SAM/BAM file.');
parser.add_argument('SAMFILE',type=argparse.FileType('r'),help='Input SAM file (use - from standard input)');
parser.add_argument('--span-distribution-file','-s',type=argparse.FileType('w'),help='Write the distribution of the paired-end read span into a text file with name SPAN_DISTRIBUTION_FILE. This text file is tab-delimited, each line containing two numbers: the span and the number of such paired-end reads.');
parser.add_argument('--read-distribution-file','-r',type=argparse.FileType('w'),help='Write the distribution of the paired-end read length into a text file with name READ_DISTRIBUTION_FILE. This text file is tab-delimited, each line containing two numbers: the read length and the number of such paired-end reads.');

args=parser.parse_args();

plrdlen={};
plrdspan={};

def getmeanval(dic,maxbound=-1):
  nsum=0;  n=0;
  for (k,v) in dic.items():
    if maxbound!=-1 and k>maxbound:
      continue;
    nsum=nsum+k*v;
    n=n+v;
  meanv=nsum*1.0/n;
  nsum=0; n=0;
  for (k,v) in dic.items():
    if maxbound!=-1 and k>maxbound:
      continue;
    nsum=nsum+(k-meanv)*(k-meanv)*v;
    n=n+v;
  varv=math.sqrt(nsum*1.0/(n-1));
  return (meanv,varv);

objmrl=re.compile('([0-9]+)M$');
objmtj=re.compile('NH:i:(\d+)');

nline=0;
for lines in args.SAMFILE:
  field=lines.strip().split();
  nline=nline+1;
  if nline%1000000==0:
    print(str(nline/1000000)+'M...',file=sys.stderr);
  if len(field)<12:
    continue;
  try:
    mrl=objmrl.match(field[5]);
    if mrl==None: # ignore non-perfect reads
      continue;
    readlen=int(mrl.group(1));
    if readlen in plrdlen.keys():
      plrdlen[readlen]=plrdlen[readlen]+1;
    else:
      plrdlen[readlen]=1;
    if field[6]!='=':
      continue;
    dist=int(field[8]);
    if dist<=0: # ignore neg dist
      continue;
    mtj=objmtj.search(lines);
    # if mtj==None:
    #   continue;
    # if int(mtj.group(1))!=1:
    #   continue;
    #print(field[0]+' '+str(dist));
    if dist in plrdspan.keys():
      plrdspan[dist]=plrdspan[dist]+1;
    else:
      plrdspan[dist]=1;
  except ValueError:
    continue;

#print(str(plrdlen));
#print(str(plrdspan));

# get the maximum value
readlenval=getmeanval(plrdlen);
print('Read length: mean '+str(readlenval[0])+', STD='+str(readlenval[1]));
# print('Possible read lengths and their counts:');
# print(str(plrdlen));

if args.span_distribution_file is not None:
  for k in sorted(plrdspan.keys()):
    print(str(k)+'\t'+str(plrdspan[k]),file=args.span_distribution_file);

if args.read_distribution_file is not None:
  for k in sorted(plrdlen.keys()):
    print(str(k)+'\t'+str(plrdlen[k]),file=args.read_distribution_file);


if len(plrdspan)==0:
  print('No qualified paired-end reads found. Are they single-end reads?');
else:
  maxv=max(plrdspan,key=plrdspan.get);
  spanval=getmeanval(plrdspan,maxbound=maxv*3);
  print('Read span: mean '+str(spanval[0])+', STD='+str(spanval[1]));
  # print('maxv:'+str(maxv));

Hello,
Thank you for this tool !
I am feeding getinsertsize.py with overlapping paired-end reads. I get two metrics: "read size" and "read span". Is the "read span" the insert size + the 2x the number of cycles? I am asking because I find it confusing that in the first case "read" really means sequenced read, but in the second it would mean the distance between first base sequenced for reads 1 and 2 right? The outer distance in some sense.

I have the same question

Read his original blog post and comments there for more details.