typesetting different characters with different colors in a DNA sequence

Question

I have created a macro which I used to format DNA sequences, as they should be in the monospaced font and uppercased:

\newcommand{\DNA}[1]{\texttt{\uppercase{#1}}}

Now I have a column with some different DNA sequences on different rows, lets say:

1 & \DNA{GCATCCAATGCC}\\
2 & \DNA{GGGACCAATGCG}\\
3 & \DNA{TTATCCAATCTC}\\

I would like to color each character (base) in the DNA sequence with a different color, as it easier for the reader to see certain patterns (in this case the reoccuring CCAAT sequence, a putative Hap complex binding domain). (for example as done here)

that means, all A -> Red T -> Green C -> Blue G -> Black

Is there a way to do this, or a verbatim package in which this can be achieved ? Thanks alot for your help!

----------

Liu's example posted works well, but not in my tabular/floatrow table Tobi's example works well in all environments tested..

Thanks again for your great help all!

Answer 1

Like this?

[EDIT: I changed the example so it doesn’t touch other listings.]

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{listings,xcolor}
\lstdefinestyle{dna}{%
    literate={A}{\textcolor{green}{A}}{1}
        {B}{\textcolor{blue}{B}}{1}
        {C}{\textcolor{red}{C}}{1}
        {a}{\textcolor{green}{A}}{1}
        {b}{\textcolor{blue}{B}}{1}
        {c}{\textcolor{red}{C}}{1},
    basicstyle=\ttfamily,
}
\newcommand{\DNA}[1]{%
    \lstinline[style=dna]{#1}%
}
\begin{document}
\lstinline{ABCabc}\quad\DNA{bbCa}
\section{Somthing about \DNA{abcabcababc}}
\end{document}

You can use it also in commands like \section See the listingsmanual for more info.

Answer 2

(Revised version following Martin's suggestion)

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{xcolor}
\begingroup
\catcode`A\active
\catcode`T\active
\catcode`C\active
\catcode`G\active
\gdef A{\textcolor{red}{\string A}}
\gdef T{\textcolor{green}{\string T}}
\gdef C{\textcolor{blue}{\string C}}
\gdef G{\textcolor{black}{\string G}}
\endgroup

\DeclareRobustCommand\DNA[1]{\begingroup
  \scantokens{%
    \catcode`A\active
    \catcode`C\active
    \catcode`G\active
    \catcode`T\active
    \ttfamily#1\endinput}%
  \endgroup}

\begin{document}

\section{\DNA{ACGT}}

\DNA{ACGTACGT}, \fbox{\DNA{ACGTACGT}}

\end{document}

---

A more professional choice is to use texshade package, especially for biology. I almost forgot it. It is quite complex for me, and there're some predefined styles. You'd better read the manual first.

Answer 3

\begingroup\lccode`~=`A
\lowercase{\endgroup\def~}{\textcolor{red}{A}}
\begingroup\lccode`~=`T
\lowercase{\endgroup\def~}{\textcolor{green}{T}}

\begingroup\lccode`~=`C
\lowercase{\endgroup\def~}{\textcolor{blue}{C}}

\begingroup\lccode`~=`G
\lowercase{\endgroup\def~}{\textcolor{black}{G}}

\let\NX\noexpand
\def\DNAmathcodes{%
  \catcode`A=\active \catcode`T=\active
  \catcode`C=\active \catcode`G=\active
  \catcode`a=\active \catcode`t=\active
  \catcode`c=\active \catcode`g=\active
}

\DeclareRobustCommand{\DNA}{\bgroup\DNAmathcodes\doDNA}
\newcommand\doDNA[1]{\texttt{\uppercase{\scantokens{#1\NX}}}\egroup}


\begin{tabular}{ll}
1 & \DNA{GCATCCAATGCC}\\
2 & \DNA{GGGACCAATGCG}\\
3 & \DNA{TTATCCAATCTC}
\end{tabular}

Note: without \noexpand, \scantokens would add a space; but \noexpand contains an "a"! Also \DNA must be robustified, if we need it in a section title.

Answer 4

For completeness, here is a solution using LuaTeX. I use LPEG to parse the input and then apply the appropriate style to it. The solution is in ConTeXt, but it should be easy to translate it to LaTeX.

\unexpanded\def\DNA#1%
    {\ctxcommand{dnaparse("#1")}}

\startluacode
  thirddata = thirddata or {}
  thirddata.dna = thirddata.dna or {}
  local dna = thirddata.dna

  dna.attributes ={ 
      A = { color = "red",   style = "mono" },
      T = { color = "green", style = "mono" },
      C = { color = "blue",  style = "mono" },
      G = { color = "black", style = "mono" },
      default = { color = "black", style = "mono"},
    }

  local function format(char)
    local hash = dna.attributes[char] or dna.attributes[default]
    context.style(hash, char)
  end

  local char = lpeg.S("ATCG") / format
  dna.parser = lpeg.Cs(char^0)


  function commands.dnaparse(str)
    dna.parser:match(str)
  end
\stopluacode

\starttext

  \DNA{GCATCCAATGCC}
  \DNA{GGGACCAATGCG}
  \DNA{TTATCCAATCTC}

\stoptext

The advantage of using Lua is that you don't have to mess around with catcodes.

Answer 5

New solution, with a parser.

Using core TeX:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{color}
\def\dnaA{\textcolor{red}{A}}
\def\dnaT{\textcolor{green}{T}}
\def\dnaC{\textcolor{blue}{C}}
\def\dnaG{\textcolor{black}{G}}
\def\DNA#1{%
  \edef\testchar{#1}%
  \if;\testchar
    \relax
  \else
    \csname dna#1\endcsname
    \expandafter\DNA
  \fi}
\begin{document}
\DNA ACGTAGCTAACCG;
\end{document}

Using pgf's parser module:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{pgf}
\usepgfmodule{parser}
\pgfparserdef{dna}{initial}{\meaning A}{\textcolor{red}{A}}
\pgfparserdef{dna}{initial}{\meaning T}{\textcolor{green}{T}}
\pgfparserdef{dna}{initial}{\meaning C}{\textcolor{blue}{C}}
\pgfparserdef{dna}{initial}{\meaning G}{\textcolor{black}{G}}
\pgfparserdef{dna}{initial}{\meaning ;}{\pgfparserswitch{final}}
\newcommand\DNA{\pgfparserparse{dna}}
\begin{document}
\DNA ACGTAGCTAACCG;
\end{document}