wrmxpress GUI: A User-Friendly Interface For High-Throughput Analysis of Parasitic Worms

Abstract

As antiparasitic research moves towards high-content and high-throughput phenotypic screening, computation of large imaging datasets will play a significant role. The data generated by automated microscopy is invaluable to researchers as it is highly detailed and at an unprecedented scale. However, processing these data is a challenging task, requiring researchers to develop custom tools, use closed-source proprietary code integrated into the microscope’s software, or adapt publicly available open-source software. However, creating custom tools and working in the command line poses a barrier to entry for many researchers. With these considerations in mind, we have developed an open-source tool with a user-friendly GUI to facilitate the analysis and interpretation of high-content imaging data across diverse worm species. wrmXpress is an open-source tool designed to quickly analyze the data received from automated microscopy imaging with a special focus on parasitic worms. The new wrmXpress GUI incorporated all previously published modules, and we also introduce a new module for tracking schistosome miracidia in a high-throughput context.