Genomics

Alluvial diagram example: comparing single-cell annotation methods

Example alluvial diagram comparing single-cell clusters with cell types from marker-based and reference-based annotation, colored by the middle stage.

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C1C2C3C4C5C6T cellT cellB cellB cellMonocyteMonocyteNK cellNK cellDendritic cellDendritic cellUnassignedUnassignedT cellNK cellB cellMonocyteDendritic cellPlateletUnassignedClusterMarker-basedReference-based
Cells per cluster and the cell types assigned by two annotation methods. Illustrative data.

About this example

In single-cell analysis, alluvial diagrams are a compact way to compare clusterings or annotation methods: agreement shows as straight, unbroken flows, and disagreements show as flows that split between labels.

Here the flows are colored by the middle stage (the marker-based label), which highlights where the reference-based method assigns a different cell type.

The data

ClusterMarker-basedReference-basedCells
C1T cellT cell1840
C1T cellNK cell210
C2B cellB cell1320
C3MonocyteMonocyte1560
C3MonocyteDendritic cell140
C4NK cellNK cell610
C4NK cellT cell95
C5Dendritic cellDendritic cell180
C5MonocyteDendritic cell60
C6UnassignedPlatelet120
C6UnassignedUnassigned45

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