Local NCBI BLAST+ in WebServer - Easy Steps

This is a simple tutorial which explains how to design your own web interface for NCBI BLAST+ to perform local and online database search using PHP in webserver. The PHP library locBLAST executes the NCBI BLAST+ programs using exec() function through passing parameters from the HTML form fields. In locBLAST, two list boxes were used to select program & database, and text area & file upload is used to input query sequence in the FASTA file format. A FASTA file validation function is included to validate the query sequence before executing the BLAST programs. The locBLAST PHP library and test database files were freely available at GitHub.

Requirements for locBLAST Setup

In this tutorial, I have given a brief explanation about embedding the latest NCBI BLAST+ (the latest version of NCBI BLAST+ as on November 17, 2020 is 2.11.0.) in any PHP enabled web server. The latest version of NCBI BLAST+ (standalone command-line BLAST programs) can be downloaded from the FTP server of NCBI (ftp://ftp.ncbi.nih.gov/blast/executables/blast+/LATEST). A simple PHP supporting web server is enough to run the local BLAST program through the web browser. Follow the steps given below to setup and run the locBLAST program.

1. Download the compressed NCBI BLAST+ software (I have downloaded ncbi-blast-2.11.0+-x64-win64.tar.gz for Windows 64-bit OS) from the NCBI FTP server.

2. Create a folder named locBLAST in the web directory (usually named htdocs, www, or wwwroot).

3. Decompress ncbi-blast-2.11.0+-x64-win64.tar.gz file and copy all the files present in the bin folder to locBLAST directory.

4. Download index.php and db folder from GitHub and copy to locBLAST directory.

5. Open the URL http://localhost/locBLAST in the web browser to run locBLAST program.

6. Click the hyperlink DEMO and Search button to test local database search. The default parameters will generate an HTML file formatted BLAST search report.

The form fields in locBLAST program can be extended with custom form fields to perform advanced search. Moreover, desired database files can be downloaded from the NCBI FTP directory (ftp://ftp.ncbi.nih.gov) and copied to the db directory to perform offline database search.

Custom Database Creation

We can also create custom database using makeblastdb program present in the locBLAST directory. To create a custom database, copy the FASTA file formatted multiple sequence file to the db directory. Then open the db directory and press ALT key + Right mouse click to open command-line window directing to the current directory. Enter the command “makeblastdb.exe -in db/pdt.fas -out db/pdt -dbtype prot -title PDTDB” to create a custom database named PDTDB (already included in the db folder).

The FASTA file formatted multiple sequence file (pdt.fas)is given below:

>pdt|pdtdbt00001|pdb|1OKE|A/B
MRCIGISNRDFVEGVSGGSWVDIVLEHGSCVTTMAKNKPTLDFELIKTEAKQPATLRKYC
IEAKLTNTTTESRCPTQGEPTLNEEQDKRFVCKHSMVDRGWGNGCGLFGKGGIVTCAMFT
CKKNMEGKIVQPENLEYTVVITPHSGEEHAVGNDTGKHGKEVKITPQSSITEAELTGYGT
VTMECSPRTGLDFNEMVLLQMKDKAWLVHRQWFLDLPLPWLPGADTQGSNWIQKETLVTF
KNPHAKKQDVVVLGSQEGAMHTALTGATEIQMSSGNLLFTGHLKCRLRMDKLQLKGMSYS
MCTGKFKVVKEIAETQHGTIVIRVQYEGDGSPCKIPFEIMDLEKRHVLGRLITVNPIVTE
KDSPVNIEAEPPFGDSYIIIGVEPGQLKLNWFKK
>pdt|pdtdbt00002|pdb|4O6B|A/B
AHHHHHHSSGVDLGTENLYFQSNADSGCVVSWKNKELKCGSGIFITDNVHTWTEQYKFQP
ESPSKLASAIQKAHEEGICGIRSVTRLENLMWKQITPELNHILSENEVKLTIMTGDIKGI
MQAGKRSLRPQPTELKYSWKTWGKAKMLSTESHNQTFLIDGPETAECPNTNRAWNSLEVE
DYGFGVFTTNIWLKLKEKQDVFCDSKLMSAAIKDNRAVHADMGYWIESALNDTWKIEKAS
FIEVKNCHWPKSHTLWSNGVLESEMIIPKNLAGPVSQHNYRPGYHTQITGPWHLGKLEMD
FDFCDGTTVVVTEDCGNRGPSLRTTTASGKLITEWCCRSCTLPPLRYRGEDGCWYGMEIR
PLKEKEENLVNSLVTA
>pdt|pdtdbt00003|pdb|2IOK|A/B
SKKNSLALSLTADQMVSALLDAEPPILYSEYDPTRPFSEASMMGLLTNLADRELVHMINW
AKRVPGFVDLTLHDQVHLLECAWLEILMIGLVWRSMEHPGKLLFAPNLLLDRNQGKCVEG
MVEIFDMLLATSSRFRMMNLQGEEFVCLKSIILLNSGVYTFLSSTLKSLEEKDHIHRVLD
KITDTLIHLMAKAGLTLQQQHQRLAQLLLILSHIRHMSNKGMEHLYSMKCKNVVPLYDLL
LEMLDAHRLHAPTS
>pdt|pdtdbt00004|pdb|2Q1Y|A/B
MTPPHNYLAVIKVVGIGGGGVNAVNRMIEQGLKGVEFIAINTDAQALLMSDADVKLDVGR
DSTRGLGAGADPEVGRKAAEDAKDEIEELLRGADMVFVTAGEGGGTGTGGAPVVASIARK
LGALTVGVVTRPFSFEGKRRSNQAENGIAALRESCDTLIVIPNDRLLQMGDAAVSLMDAF
RSADEVLLNGVQGITDLITTPGLINVDFADVKGIMSGAGTALMGIGSARGEGRSLKAAEI
AINSPLLEASMEGAQGVLMSIAGGSDLGLFEINEAASLVQDAAHPDANIIFGTVIDDSLG
DEVRVTVIAAGFDVSGPGRKPVMGETGGAHRIESAKAGKLTSTLFEPVDAVSVPLHTNGA
TLSIGGDDDDVDVPPFMRR
>pdt|pdtdbt00005|pdb|3GGE|A/B/C
SMKGIEKEVNVYKSEDSLGLTITDNGVGYAFIKRIKDGGVIDSVKTICVGDHIESINGEN
IVGWRHYDVAKKLKELKKEELFTMKLIEPKKSSEA
>pdt|pdtdbt00006|pdb|2F9Q|A/B/C/D
MAKKTSSKGKLPPGPLPLPGLGNLLHVDFQNTPYCFDQLRRRFGDVFSLQLAWTPVVVLN
GLAAVREALVTHGEDTADRPPVPITQILGFGPRSQGVFLARYGPAWREQRRFSVSTLRNL
GLGKKSLEQWVTEEAACLCAAFANHSGRPFRPNGLLDKAVSNVIASLTCGRRFEYDDPRF
LRLLDLAQEGLKEESGFLREVLNAVPVDRHIPALAGKVLRFQKAFLTQLDELLTEHRMTW
DPAQPPRDLTEAFLAEMEKAKGNPESSFNDENLRIVVADLFSAGMVTTSTTLAWGLLLMI
LHPDVQRRVQQEIDDVIGQVRRPEMGDQAHMPYTTAVIHEVQRFGDIVPLGMTHMTSRDI
EVQGFRIPKGTTLITNLSSVLKDEAVWEKPFRFHPEHFLDAQGHFVKPEAFLPFSAGRRA
CLGEPLARMELFLFFTSLLQHFSFSVPTGQPRPSHHGVFAFLVSPSPYELCAVPRHHHH
>pdt|pdtdbt00007|pdb|3EAH|A/B
PKFPRVKNWEVGSITYDTLSAQAQQDGPCTPRRCLGSLVFPRKLQGRPSPGPPAPEQLLS
QARDFINQYYSSIKRSGSQAHEQRLQEVEAEVAATGTYQLRESELVFGAKQAWRNAPRCV
GRIQWGKLQVFDARDCRSAQEMFTYICNHIKYATNRGNLRSAITVFPQRCPGRGDFRIWN
SQLVRYAGYRQQDGSVRGDPANVEITELCIQHGWTPGNGRFDVLPLLLQAPDEPPELFLL
PPELVLEVPLEHPTLEWFAALGLRWYALPAVSNMLLEIGGLEFPAAPFSGWYMSTEIGTR
NLCDPHRYNILEDVAVCMDLDTRTTSSLWKDKAAVEINVAVLHSYQLAKVTIVDHHAATA
SFMKHLENEQKARGGCPADWAWIVPPISGSLTPVFHQEMVNYFLSPAFRYQPDPWKGSAA
KGTGITR
>pdt|pdtdbt00008|pdb|4PQE|A
EGREDAELLVTVRGGRLRGIRLKTPGGPVSAFLGIPFAEPPMGPRRFLPPEPKQPWSGVV
DATTFQSVCYQYVDTLYPGFEGTEMWNPNRELSEDCLYLNVWTPYPRPTSPTPVLVWIYG
GGFYSGASSLDVYDGRFLVQAERTVLVSMNYRVGAFGFLALPGSREAPGNVGLLDQRLAL
QWVQENVAAFGGDPTSVTLFGESAGAASVGMHLLSPPSRGLFHRAVLQSGAPNGPWATVG
MGEARRRATQLAHLVGCPPGGTGGNDTELVACLRTRPAQVLVNHEWHVLPQESVFRFSFV
PVVDGDFLSDTPEALINAGDFHGLQVLVGVVKDEGSYFLVYGAPGFSKDNESLISRAEFL
AGVRVGVPQVSDLAAEAVVLHYTDWLHPEDPARLREALSDVVGDHNVVCPVAQLAGRLAA
QGARVYAYVFEHRASTLSWPLWMGVPHGYEIEFIFGIPLDPSRNYTAEEKIFAQRLMRYW
ANFARTGDPNEPRDPKAPQWPPYTAGAQQYVSLDLRPLEVRRGLRAQACAFWNRFLPKLL
SAT

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