merlinv4.0: an updated platform for the reconstruction of high-quality genome-scale metabolic models

ABSTRACT Genome-scale metabolic models have been recognised as useful tools for better understanding living organisms’ metabolism. merlin ( https://www.merlin-sysbio.org/ ) is an open-source and user-friendly resource that hastens the models’ reconstruction process, conjugating manual and automatic procedures, while leveraging the user’s expertise with a curation-oriented graphical interface. An updated and redesigned version of merlin is herein presented. Since 2015, several features have been implemented in merlin , along with deep changes in the software architecture, operational flow, and graphical interface. The current version (4.0) includes the implementation of novel algorithms and third-party tools for genome functional annotation, draft assembly, model refinement, and curation. Such updates increased the user base, resulting in multiple published works, including genome metabolic (re-)annotations and model reconstructions of multiple (lower and higher) eukaryotes and prokaryotes. merlin version 4.0 is the only tool able to perform template based and non-template based draft reconstructions, while achieving competitive performance compared to state-of-the art tools both for well and less-studied organisms.