Review Article

Bioinformatic Tools for Inferring Functional Information from Plant Microarray Data: Tools for the First Steps

Table 1

Probe design software packages.

Tool and websiteCost and functions of the tool

Array Designer http://www.premierbiosoft.com/dnamicroarray/index.htmlDesign primers and probes for oligo and cDNA expression microarrays. It can also design probes for SNP detection, single exon, whole gene, tiling, and resequencing arrays. The software is not free.
ArrayScribe http://www.nimblegen.com/products/software/arrayscribe.htmlFree, but limited to designing NimbleGen Arrays. The tool can design probes, specify mismatches at specific sequence positions, automatically generate mismatches, generate multiple probes for a gene, and design the placement of spots on an array.
eArray http://earray.chem.agilent.com/earray/login.doFree, but limited to designing Agilent arrays. Can design probes for expression, CGH, and ChiP for any species with genomic sequence.
Primer3Plus http://www.bioinformatics.nl/cgi-in/primer3plus/primer3plus.cgiFree software that can design probes for expression detection on arrays, amplification/cloning, and sequencing/resequencing.
Sarani Oligo Design http://www.strandls.com/oligodesign.htmlProbe design for expression analysis. The software is not free.
Visual OMP http://www.dnasoftware.com/Products/VisualOMPDesign software for RNA, DNA, single or multiple probe design, microarrays, TaqMan assays, genotyping, single and multiplex PCR, secondary structure simulation, sequencing, genotyping.