File formats#
Input file formats for Casanovo#
When you’re ready to use Casanovo for de novo peptide sequencing, you can input your MS/MS spectra in one of the following formats:
mzML: XML-based mass spectrometry community standard file format developed by the Proteomics Standards Initiative (PSI).
mzXML: XML-based predecessor of mzML. Although supported by Casanovo, mzML should typically be preferred instead.
MGF: A simple text-based peak file, though not as rich in detail as mzML.
All three of the above file formats can be used as input to Casanovo for de novo peptide sequencing. As the official PSI standard format containing the complete information from a mass spectrometry run, mzML should typically be preferred.
Output: Understanding the mzTab format#
After Casanovo processes your input file(s), it provides the sequencing results in an mzTab file. This file is divided into two main sections:
Metadata section: This part describes general information about the file and the Casanovo sequencing task.
Peptide–spectrum match (PSM) section: Details of the peptide sequences that Casanovo predicted for the MS/MS spectra.
mzTab files can contain additional sections to include protein identifications and quantification information as well. However, as these levels of information are not relevant for Casanovo, these are not included in its output mzTab files.
Tip
mzTab is a human and machine readable format. It can be inspected manually by opening it with a text editor or with spreadsheet software (specify tab as the delimiter). Additionally, you can use tools like Pyteomics for Python or MSnbase for R to programmatically read mzTab files.
Metadata section
The metadata section consists of three columns, each separated by a tab:
The prefix
MTD
indicating that this is the metadata section.A key describing a metadata item.
The value corresponding to the metadata key.
As an example, these are the first few lines in an mzTab output file produced by Casanovo:
MTD mzTab-version 1.0.0
MTD mzTab-mode Summary
MTD mzTab-type Identification
MTD description Casanovo identification file my_example_output
MTD software[1] [MS, MS:1003281, Casanovo, 4.0.1]
This identifies this mzTab file with filename “my_example_output” as a summary-level identification file produced by Casanovo.
On the final line you can see a typical key–value entry using information defined in the PSI-MS controlled vocabulary.
In this case, the line indicates that the file is produced by the Casanovo software, which is recorded in the MS
controlled vocabulary with accession number MS:1003281
.
The final element is the version number of Casanovo that produced this file.
The next few lines typically list the post-translational modifications (PTMs) that Casanovo knew:
MTD fixed_mod[1] [UNIMOD, UNIMOD:4, Carbamidomethyl, ]
MTD fixed_mod[1]-site C
MTD variable_mod[1] [UNIMOD, UNIMOD:7, Deamidated, ]
MTD variable_mod[1]-site N
MTD variable_mod[2] [UNIMOD, UNIMOD:7, Deamidated, ]
MTD variable_mod[2]-site Q
MTD variable_mod[3] [UNIMOD, UNIMOD:35, Oxidation, ]
MTD variable_mod[3]-site M
MTD variable_mod[4] [UNIMOD, UNIMOD:385, Ammonia-loss, ]
MTD variable_mod[4]-site N-term
MTD variable_mod[5] [UNIMOD, UNIMOD:1, Acetyl, ]
MTD variable_mod[5]-site N-term
MTD variable_mod[6] [UNIMOD, UNIMOD:5, Carbamyl, ]
MTD variable_mod[6]-site N-term
This indicates that cysteine carbamidomethylation was used as a static modification (this time defined by the Unimod controlled vocabulary), and that deamidation of asparagine and glutamine, oxidation of methionine, N-terminal loss of ammonia, N-terminal acetylation, and N-terminal carbamylation were used as variable modifications. Different PTMs in Casanovo can only be enabled or disabled by training a new model.
The final piece of information in the metadata section is the active configuration settings, allowing for replication or review of the analysis parameters:
MTD software[1]-setting[1] model = casanovo_massivekb_v4_0_0.ckpt
MTD software[1]-setting[2] config_filename = default
MTD software[1]-setting[3] precursor_mass_tol = 50.0
MTD software[1]-setting[4] isotope_error_range = (0, 1)
MTD software[1]-setting[5] min_peptide_len = 6
MTD software[1]-setting[6] predict_batch_size = 1024
MTD software[1]-setting[7] n_beams = 10
MTD software[1]-setting[8] top_match = 1
MTD software[1]-setting[9] accelerator = auto
MTD software[1]-setting[10] devices = None
MTD software[1]-setting[11] random_seed = 454
MTD software[1]-setting[12] n_log = 1
MTD software[1]-setting[13] tb_summarywriter = None
MTD software[1]-setting[14] save_top_k = 5
MTD software[1]-setting[15] model_save_folder_path =
MTD software[1]-setting[16] val_check_interval = 50000
MTD software[1]-setting[17] n_peaks = 150
MTD software[1]-setting[18] min_mz = 50.0
MTD software[1]-setting[19] max_mz = 2500.0
MTD software[1]-setting[20] min_intensity = 0.01
MTD software[1]-setting[21] remove_precursor_tol = 2.0
MTD software[1]-setting[22] max_charge = 10
MTD software[1]-setting[23] dim_model = 512
MTD software[1]-setting[24] n_head = 8
MTD software[1]-setting[25] dim_feedforward = 1024
MTD software[1]-setting[26] n_layers = 9
MTD software[1]-setting[27] dropout = 0.0
MTD software[1]-setting[28] dim_intensity = None
MTD software[1]-setting[29] max_length = 100
MTD software[1]-setting[30] warmup_iters = 100000
MTD software[1]-setting[31] max_iters = 600000
MTD software[1]-setting[32] learning_rate = 0.0005
MTD software[1]-setting[33] weight_decay = 1e-05
MTD software[1]-setting[34] train_label_smoothing = 0.01
MTD software[1]-setting[35] train_batch_size = 32
MTD software[1]-setting[36] max_epochs = 30
MTD software[1]-setting[37] num_sanity_val_steps = 0
MTD software[1]-setting[38] train_from_scratch = True
MTD software[1]-setting[39] calculate_precision = False
MTD software[1]-setting[41] n_workers = 20
MTD ms_run[1]-location file://[...]/my_example_input.mgf
PSM section
The PSM section in mzTab files starts with a header line, indicated by the PSH
key, which defines the subsequent tabular PSM information.
Next, the following lines each start with the PSM
key and contain information for an individual PSM predicted by Casanovo.
PSH sequence PSM_ID accession unique database database_version search_engine search_engine_score[1] modifications retention_time charge exp_mass_to_charge calc_mass_to_charge spectra_ref pre post start end opt_ms_run[1]_aa_scores
PSM EPPTPLTYVAGAGSGVR 1 null null null null [MS, MS:1003281, Casanovo, 4.0.1] 0.968312939008077 null null 2.0 836.439 836.4386613168799 ms_run[1]:index=0 null null null null 0.96454,0.90841,0.97874,0.97979,0.97915,0.98254,0.98184,0.97898,0.86762,0.97782,0.97771,0.97899,0.97987,0.97788,0.97949,0.98074,0.97561
PSM VVHGFYNPAVSRVLEQ 2 null null null null [MS, MS:1003281, Casanovo, 4.0.1] 0.9652494998539195 null null 3.0 605.6572 605.65644936688 ms_run[1]:index=1 null null null null 0.96870,0.97701,0.85667,0.97274,0.97827,0.97790,0.97829,0.97706,0.97654,0.97725,0.97778,0.95544,0.95622,0.96240,0.96992,0.96909
PSM EPPTPLTYVAGGSLNR 3 null null null null [MS, MS:1003281, Casanovo, 4.0.1] 0.813004752730622 null null 2.0 836.4398 836.4386608168799 ms_run[1]:index=2 null null null null 0.78636,0.45168,0.64947,0.68432,0.89344,0.90091,0.90124,0.56938,0.89757,0.90204,0.90129,0.90190,0.80076,0.90097,0.90233,0.87599
PSM LERPFVHLM+15.995VFLGGSGR 4 null null null null [MS, MS:1003281, Casanovo, 4.0.1] 0.758128507890635 null null 4.0 483.7627 483.51345739187997 ms_run[1]:index=3 null null null null 0.86884,0.85508,0.87392,0.39732,0.87556,0.87291,0.69642,0.87083,0.79858,0.86588,0.86291,0.84178,0.45706,0.52835,0.85704,0.41526,0.83419
PSM GEYKLLPFNKLMLGEG 5 null null null null [MS, MS:1003281, Casanovo, 4.0.1] -0.18260370983796959 null null 3.0 602.99817 603.6586910335465 ms_run[1]:index=4 null null null null 0.64453,0.77152,0.90248,0.84100,0.65059,0.89975,0.87886,0.82220,0.90324,0.90056,0.88657,0.86091,0.66978,0.63579,0.81815,0.90577
...
Key information for each PSM is as follows:
sequence
: The predicted peptide sequence.PSM_ID
: A monotonically increasing index, serving as a unique identifier for each PSM.search_engine_score[1]
: The score of this PSM.spectra_ref
: Unique identifier linking the prediction back to the original spectrum in the input file(s).opt_ms_run[1]_aa_scores
: Casanovo predicts peptides in an autoregressive fashion, one amino acid at a time. This column contains comma-separated scores of the individual amino acid predictions.
Note
Scores in Casanovo range from -1 to 1, where 1 indicates high confidence in the prediction.
A score below 0 occurs for a predicted peptide sequence that mismatches the observed precursor mass, in which case the score is penalized by subtracting 1.
This will also be evident from a difference in the observed precursor m/z, in the exp_mass_to_charge
column, and the precursor m/z calculated from the predicted peptide sequence, in the calc_mass_to_charge
column.
Hence, it is important to properly configure settings that impact the precursor mass filter, such as the precursor mass tolerance (option precursor_mass_tol
) and the isotopes to consider (option isotope_error_range
).
The spectra_ref
column is essential for connecting predictions back to the corresponding MS/MS spectra in the input file(s).
This column consists of two parts: the run index and the spectrum reference, separated by a colon.
The run index is of the form
ms_run[FILE_INDEX]
, withFILE_INDEX
referring to the corresponding run location in the metadata section. In the typical case when only a single input file was processed, this will be1
.The spectrum reference can take the form of either a scan number or a spectrum index.
When using mzML or mzXML files as input, the spectrum reference will take the form of a scan number, encoded as
scan=SCAN
, withSCAN
the scan number specified in the input file for this spectrum.When using MGF files as input, the spectrum reference will be an index, encoded as
index=INDEX
, withINDEX
the zero-based index of the spectrum in its input file. This is because MGF is not a standardized format that is not guaranteed to contain specific spectrum identifiers.
Warning
Be mindful of the input peak file format when linking Casanovo PSMs to their input spectra. Even when the same raw file is converted to both mzML and MGF, scan numbers in the mzML file will generally not match spectrum indices in the MGF file, as the former contains both MS and MS/MS spectra while the latter only contains MS/MS spectra.
Note
The PSM identifier in the PSM_ID
column is not necessarily identical to the spectrum index in the spectra_ref
column, even for MGF files.
PSM_ID
is one-based, whereas spectrum indices inspectra_ref
are zero-based.If multiple predictions are included per spectrum (configuration option
top_match
), each PSM will have a different identifier, but spectrum references will overlap.
Casanovo configuration#
Casanovo operates based on settings defined in a YAML configuration file. This file contains several options that affect how Casanovo processes your data and predicts peptide sequences. If you run Casanovo without specifying a configuration file, it uses a set of default settings. However, you might want to adjust these settings for several reasons, such as to capture specific characteristics of your data or to experiment with different training configurations.
To create a custom configuration file, you can start by generating a copy of the default configuration:
casanovo configure
You can then edit this file to adjust various settings.
After editing, specify your custom configuration file when running Casanovo with the --config
option.
The configuration file is divided into sections, each containing options that are relevant to different phases of Casanovo’s operation.
The first section contains options used to configure Casanovo during de novo peptide sequencing, followed by options in the second section that can only be modified when training a new model.
For example, the top_match
option in the first section makes it possible to flexibly report multiple PSMs per spectrum during de novo peptide sequencing.
In contrast, setting a different value for the n_peaks
option in the second section is only possible when training a new model, and cannot be modified when predicting with a previously trained model that uses a different configuration.
Tip
Each change in the configuration can lead to different outcomes in the peptide sequencing process, so it may be beneficial to experiment with various settings to find the optimal configuration for your data. Always consider your experimental design and the nature of your data when adjusting these settings.
Logging#
Casanovo generates detailed log files during operation, providing insights into its performance and aiding in troubleshooting.
These log files are named similarly to the output mzTab files but with a .log
extension.
Log files detail every step Casanovo takes, including:
Starting and ending timestamps of the sequencing or training process.
Configuration options used.
Warnings or errors encountered during processing, providing clues for troubleshooting.
Summary statistics upon completion, offering a quick overview of the results.
Tip
Tips for using log files:
Bug reporting: When encountering issues, including the relevant log file in your bug report can significantly aid in diagnosing the problem.
Performance monitoring: Log files can be used to monitor the efficiency of Casanovo’s operation over time, identifying potential bottlenecks.
For advanced users: Training Casanovo#
To train a new Casanovo model, the training and validation data must be provided as annotated MGF files.
Annotated MGF files are similar to standard MGF files but include a SEQ
key–value pair in the spectrum header, indicating the peptide sequence for the corresponding spectrum.
Example of an annotated MGF file entry:
BEGIN IONS
TITLE=My spectrum title
PEPMASS=602.2881
CHARGE=2+
RTINSECONDS=985.44604
SEQ=HQGVM+15.995VGM+15.995GQK
84.08081817626953 0.1001848503947258
87.74003601074219 0.07622149586677551
...
END IONS
Note
In case the peptide sequence includes PTMs, ensure that these are formatted correctly and match the amino acid and modification vocabulary in the Casanovo configuration.
mzML or mzXML files are not supported as input during training, as these formats do not provide a mechanism to annotate their spectra with peptide sequences. Similarly, in Casanovo evaluation mode only annotated MGF files are supported.
During training, Casanovo will save checkpoint files at every val_check_interval
steps, specified in the configuration.
Model checkpoints will be saved in the model_save_folder_path
folder with filename format epoch=EPOCH-step=STEP.ckpt
, with EPOCH
the epoch and STEP
the training step at which the checkpoint was taken, helping you track progress and select the best model based on validation performance.