GSAR

`muscat` provides various methods and visualization tools for DS analysis in multi-sample, multi-group, multi-(cell-)subpopulation scRNA-seq data, including cell-level mixed models and methods based on aggregated “pseudobulk” data, as well as a flexible simulation platform that mimics both single and multi-sample scRNA-seq data.

CATALYST provides tools for preprocessing of and differential discovery in cytometry data such as FACS, CyTOF, and IMC. Preprocessing includes i) normalization using bead standards, ii) single-cell deconvolution, and iii) bead-based compensation. For differential discovery, the package provides a number of convenient functions for data processing (e.g., clustering, dimension reduction), as well as a suite of visualizations for exploratory data analysis and exploration of results from differential abundance (DA) and state (DS) analysis in order to identify differences in composition and expression profiles at the subpopulation-level, respectively.

lefser is the R implementation of the popular microbiome biomarker discovery too, LEfSe. It uses the Kruskal-Wallis test, Wilcoxon-Rank Sum test, and Linear Discriminant Analysis to find biomarkers from two-level classes (and optional sub-classes).

The package offers statistical tests based on the 2-Wasserstein distance for detecting and characterizing differences between two distributions given in the form of samples. Functions for calculating the 2-Wasserstein distance and testing for differential distributions are provided, as well as a specifically tailored test for differential expression in single-cell RNA sequencing data.

BANDITS is a Bayesian hierarchical model for detecting differential splicing of genes and transcripts, via differential transcript usage (DTU), between two or more conditions. The method uses a Bayesian hierarchical framework, which allows for sample specific proportions in a Dirichlet-Multinomial model, and samples the allocation of fragments to the transcripts. Parameters are inferred via Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques and a DTU test is performed via a multivariate Wald test on the posterior densities for the average relative abundance of transcripts.

distinct is a statistical method to perform differential testing between two or more groups of distributions; differential testing is performed via hierarchical non-parametric permutation tests on the cumulative distribution functions (cdfs) of each sample. While most methods for differential expression target differences in the mean abundance between conditions, distinct, by comparing full cdfs, identifies, both, differential patterns involving changes in the mean, as well as more subtle variations that do not involve the mean (e.g., unimodal vs. bi-modal distributions with the same mean). distinct is a general and flexible tool: due to its fully non-parametric nature, which makes no assumptions on how the data was generated, it can be applied to a variety of datasets. It is particularly suitable to perform differential state analyses on single cell data (i.e., differential analyses within sub-populations of cells), such as single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and high-dimensional flow or mass cytometry (HDCyto) data. To use distinct one needs data from two or more groups of samples (i.e., experimental conditions), with at least 2 samples (i.e., biological replicates) per group.