GUI Tools Setup

No Command-Line Needed

You've Chosen the GUI Pathway - Great Choice for Beginners!

All tools listed below are free, open-source, and work on Windows, Mac, and Linux. No command-line experience required!

1. Tracy Web - Chromatogram Quality Control

No Installation Needed!

Bookmark this link:

https://www.gear-genomics.com/tracy/

What it does:

  • View Sanger sequencing chromatograms (.ab1 files)
  • Check quality scores for each base
  • Trim low-quality regions
  • Export clean sequences for analysis

2. UGENE - Full-Featured Alignment & Phylogeny Tool

Download UGENE

Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux

Features:

  • Graphical interface for sequence alignment (MUSCLE, MAFFT, Clustal)
  • Phylogenetic tree building (Neighbor-Joining, Maximum Likelihood)
  • Tree visualization and editing
  • Supports FASTA, FASTQ, GenBank formats
  • Comprehensive toolkit for DNA barcoding workflows

Recommended for most students - powerful yet user-friendly

3. SeaView - Lightweight Alternative to UGENE

Download SeaView

Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux

Features:

  • Simple, intuitive interface
  • Multiple alignment methods (MUSCLE, MAFFT)
  • Maximum likelihood trees with PhyML
  • Very fast and lightweight
  • Minimal learning curve

Best for: Students who want a simpler, less complex tool for basic workflows

Setup Complete! You're Ready for DNA Barcoding Analysis

Once you've downloaded these tools, you have everything you need to analyze DNA barcoding data. You do NOT need Docker, VS Code, or command-line skills for the GUI pathway.

Important Note: You still need a GitHub account for assignments!

Even if you're using GUI tools, you still need a GitHub account to accept assignments, download data, and submit reports.

Set up your GitHub account here

Next Steps

Check out tutorials in the dna-barcoding-analysis repository

This repository contains step-by-step guides for using Tracy, UGENE, and SeaView for your DNA barcoding projects.

Visit dna-barcoding-analysis repository

What you'll find in the repository:

  • GUI workflow tutorials for each tool
  • Sample data files to practice with
  • Troubleshooting guides
  • Best practices for DNA barcoding analysis