Chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) and the Assay for Transposase-Accessible Chromatin with high-throughput sequencing (ATAC-seq) have become essential technologies to effectively measure protein–DNA interactions and chromatin accessibility. However, there is a need for a scalable and reproducible pipeline that incorporates proper normalization between samples, correction of copy number variations, and integration of new downstream analysis tools. Here we present Containerized Bioinformatics workflow for Reproducible ChIP/ATAC-seq Analysis (CoBRA), a modularized computational workflow which quantifies ChIP-seq and ATAC-seq peak regions and performs unsupervised and supervised analyses. CoBRA provides a comprehensive state-of-the-art ChIP-seq and ATAC-seq analysis pipeline that can be used by scientists with limited computational experience. This enables researchers to gain rapid insight into protein–DNA interactions and chromatin accessibility through sample clustering, differential peak calling, motif enrichment, comparison of sites to a reference database, and pathway analysis. CoBRA is publicly available online at https://bitbucket. org/cfce/cobra.

Problem: Emerging bacterial antimicrobial (antibiotic) resistance (AMR) is a global threat to human health. However, a majority of lower income countries do not have microbiological diagnostic testing for prompt, reliable confirmation of bloodstream infection and identification of AMR. Context: Clinicians in Pacific island nations are increasingly challenged by patients who have infection due to antimicrobialresistant bacteria. Treatment of infection remains empirical because of a lack of diagnostic testing capacity and may follow guidelines that were formulated without reference to local measures of AMR prevalence. There is limited understanding among clinicians of microbiology testing and test interpretation. Action: Examine the lessons learnt from pilot laboratory development programmes in two Pacific island nations that focused on establishing standard procedures for micrological diagnostics and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) and on improving the training of clinicians to increase their use of laboratory services. Outcome: The pilot programmes addressed a range of logistical difficulties and evaluated two blood culture systems. They also examined and improved internal QC implementation and evaluated the prevalence of AMR. Discussion Continued development of microbiological diagnostic capability in the Pacific region is paramount. Pacific Island nations need to develop the capability of at least one central laboratory to culture AMR pathogens and subject them to quality-controlled AST or arrange for suitable referral to a nearby country.