RLGS profile segmentation via a SVM

This paper presents a new and fast segmentation algorithm, capable of incorporating expert's knowledge and expertise in a straightforward manner, to detect DNA spots in a restriction landmark genomic scanning (RLGS) profile. A RLGS profile is a gray scale image obtained in a X-ray film containing hundreds of dark spots corresponding to certain DNA fragments labeled by radioactive markers. Extracting these DNA spots is a very challenging task due to their fuzzy boundaries against noisy background regions having non-uniform intensity variations. The proposed algorithm, utilizing a support vector machine, is found to be successful to detect and extract DNA spots in a RLGS profile.