Identification of markers is an essential step in single-cell analytic. Current marker identification strategies typically rely on cluster assignments of cells. Cluster assignment, in particular of development data, is non-trivial, potentially arbitrary and commonly relies on prior knowledge. Yet, cluster uncertainty is not commonly taken into account. In response, we present SEMITONES, a principled method for cluster-free marker identification. We showcase its application on healthy haematopoiesis data as 1) a robust alternative to highly variable gene selection, 2) for marker gene and regulatory region identification, and 3) for the construction of co-enrichment networks that reveal regulators of cell identity.

中文翻译：

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SEMITONES：通过富集计分识别单笔标记

标记物的鉴定是单细胞分析中必不可少的步骤。当前的标记识别策略通常依赖于细胞的簇分配。集群分配，特别是开发数据的分配，是不平凡的，可能是任意的，并且通常依赖于先验知识。但是，通常不考虑群集不确定性。作为回应，我们提出了SEMITONES，这是一种无簇标记识别的原则方法。我们展示了其在健康的造血功能数据上的应用，包括：1）一种高度可变的基因选择的可靠替代品； 2）标记基因和调节区域的识别； 3）用于构建共富集网络的构建，以揭示细胞身份的调节剂。