Detecting transcriptionally active regions using genomic tiling arrays.

We have developed a method for interpreting genomic tiling array data, implemented as the program TranscriptionDetector. Probed loci expressed above background are identified by combining replicates in a way that makes minimal assumptions about the data. We performed medium-resolution Anopheles gambiae tiling array experiments and found extensive transcription of both coding and non-coding regions. Our method also showed improved detection of transcriptional units when applied to high-density tiling array data for ten human chromosomes.