zna 0.3.0

High-performance compressed binary format for DNA/RNA sequences with 2-bit encoding and Zstd compression

ZNA: Compressed Nucleic Acid Format

ZNA (Compressed Z-Nucleic N-Acid A) is a high-performance binary format for storing DNA/RNA sequences with exceptional compression and I/O speed.

Performance

• 135 MB/s roundtrip throughput (9.5x faster than Python baseline)
• 2.8+ GB/s encoding/decoding for long reads
• 3.7-4.0x compression ratio with Zstd
• C++ acceleration with pure Python fallback

Features

• High Compression: 2-bit encoding (4 bases per byte) + optional Zstd compression
• Ultra-Fast I/O: C++ accelerated encode/decode with block-based architecture
• Minimal Dependencies: zstandard only (C++ extension auto-compiled)
• Flexible: Single-end, paired-end, and interleaved reads
• Strand-Specific Support: dUTP, TruSeq, and custom strand protocols
• Built-in Shuffle: Memory-bounded random shuffling for training data preparation
• Metadata Rich: Read groups, descriptions, and custom flags
• Unix-Friendly: Pipe-compatible CLI for seamless workflow integration
• Streaming: Memory-efficient block-based processing

Installation

# From source (recommended - includes C++ acceleration)
git clone https://github.com/mkiyer/zna.git
cd zna
pip install -e .

# Check if C++ acceleration is available
python -c "from zna.core import is_accelerated; print(f'Accelerated: {is_accelerated()}')"

Requirements:

• Python ≥3.10
• C++ compiler (for optimal performance)
• CMake ≥3.15 (auto-installed via pip)

Quick Start

# Encode FASTQ to compressed ZNA (default: Zstd level 3)
zna encode sample.fastq.gz -o sample.zna

# Encode with shuffle (for ML training data)
zna encode sample.fastq.gz --shuffle -o shuffled.zna

# Shuffle an existing ZNA file
zna shuffle input.zna -o shuffled.zna

# Decode back to FASTA
zna decode sample.zna -o sample.fasta

# Inspect file statistics
zna inspect sample.zna

# Pipe-friendly workflows
cat reads.fastq | zna encode -o reads.zna
zna decode reads.zna | head -n 1000

Performance Benchmarks

Throughput by Read Length

Read Type	Encode (MB/s)	Decode (MB/s)	Compression
Short (Illumina, 100-150bp)	189.5	668.8	3.68x
Medium (300-500bp)	540.5	1,280.9	3.87x
Long (PacBio, 1-5kb)	1,921.5	2,864.6	3.98x
Very Long (Nanopore, 5-15kb)	2,824.7	3,392.7	3.99x

Key Insights:

• Performance scales dramatically with read length
• Compression ratio remains consistent across workloads
• C++ acceleration provides 9.5x speedup over pure Python

See docs/PERFORMANCE.md for detailed benchmarking.

---

Documentation

• docs/RELEASING.md - Publishing to PyPI and Bioconda
• docs/PERFORMANCE.md - Benchmarks and tuning

---

File Format Specification

Overview

ZNA files use a binary format optimized for nucleic acid sequences:

• File Extension: .zna (for both compressed and uncompressed files)
• Default Compression: Zstd level 3 (use --uncompressed flag to disable)
• Magic Number: ZNA\x1A (4 bytes)
• Version: 1 (1 byte)
• 2-bit Encoding: A=00, C=01, G=10, T=11
• Block Structure: Data organized in compressed/uncompressed blocks
• Metadata: Read groups, descriptions, and custom information

File Structure

┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│         File Header                 │
│  - Magic (4 bytes)                  │
│  - Version (1 byte)                 │
│  - Sequence length encoding (1 byte)│
│  - Flags (1 byte)                   │
│  - Compression method (1 byte)      │
│  - Compression level (1 byte)       │
│  - Metadata lengths (6 bytes)       │
│  - Variable metadata strings        │
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│         Block 1                     │
│  - Block Header (12 bytes)          │
│    * Compressed size (4 bytes)      │
│    * Uncompressed size (4 bytes)    │
│    * Record count (4 bytes)         │
│  - Compressed/Raw Payload           │
│    * Record 1: flags, length, seq   │
│    * Record 2: flags, length, seq   │
│    * ...                            │
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│         Block 2                     │
│  ...                                │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘

Record Format

Each record in a block contains:

• Flags (1 byte): IS_READ1, IS_READ2, IS_PAIRED
• Length (1-4 bytes): Sequence length (configurable)
• Sequence (variable): 2-bit encoded bases

Compression

• Method 0: Uncompressed (.zna)
• Method 1: Zstd compression (.zzna, levels 1-22)
• Block Size: Default 128KB (configurable)

---

Usage Guide

Encoding

Single-End Reads

# From FASTQ file
zna encode sample.fastq -o sample.zna

# From FASTA file  
zna encode sample.fasta -o sample.zna

# From gzipped input
zna encode sample.fastq.gz -o sample.zzna

# With high compression (default is level 3)
zna encode sample.fastq --level 5 -o sample.zna

# Uncompressed (rarely needed)
zna encode sample.fastq --uncompressed -o sample.zna

# From stdin
cat sample.fastq | zna encode -o sample.zna

# Force format (when extension detection fails)
cat data.txt | zna encode --fastq -o sample.zna

Paired-End Reads

# Separate R1/R2 files
zna encode R1.fastq.gz R2.fastq.gz -o paired.zna

# Interleaved file (strict alternating R1/R2 pairs)
zna encode interleaved.fastq --interleaved -o paired.zna

# Interleaved from stdin
cat interleaved.fastq | zna encode --interleaved -o paired.zzna

Mixed Paired-End and Single-End Reads (Interleaved)

The --interleaved mode intelligently detects both paired-end and single-end reads in the same file by analyzing read names. This is useful for output from tools like fastp that produce mixed merged (single) and unmerged (paired) reads.

How it works:

• Reads with matching base names (e.g., read1/1 and read1/2) are paired
• Reads without matching pairs are treated as single-end
• Read names are used to determine pairing (not just alternating order)

# Mixed interleaved input (fastp output with merged + unmerged reads)
zna encode fastp_output.fastq --interleaved -o mixed.zna

# Example input structure:
#   @read1/1         →  paired with next read
#   @read1/2
#   @merged1         →  single-end (no pair)
#   @read2/1         →  paired with next read
#   @read2/2
#   @merged2         →  single-end (no pair)

Read name formats supported:

• /1 and /2 suffixes: read1/1, read1/2
• No suffix: treated as single-end unless next read has matching base name
• Comments ignored: read1/1 merged_length:150 extracts read1/1

Advanced Options

# Custom metadata
zna encode sample.fastq \
  --read-group "Sample_01" \
  --description "Experiment XYZ" \
  -o sample.zna

# Strand-specific library (default: R1 antisense, R2 sense)
zna encode R1.fastq.gz R2.fastq.gz \
  --strand-specific \
  -o stranded.zna

# Custom strand orientation (e.g., fr-secondstrand protocol)
zna encode R1.fastq.gz R2.fastq.gz \
  --strand-specific --read1-sense --read2-antisense \
  -o stranded.zna

# Handle sequences with N nucleotides
zna encode sample.fastq --npolicy drop -o clean.zna       # Skip sequences with N
zna encode sample.fastq --npolicy random -o clean.zna     # Replace N with random base
zna encode sample.fastq --npolicy A -o clean.zna          # Replace N with A

# Shuffle during encoding (for ML training data preparation)
zna encode sample.fastq --shuffle -o shuffled.zna
zna encode R1.fastq.gz R2.fastq.gz --shuffle --seed 12345 -o shuffled.zna

# Control compression
zna encode sample.fastq \
  --level 9 \
  --block-size 262144 \
  -o sample.zna

# Uncompressed (rarely needed, for maximum I/O speed)
zna encode sample.fastq --uncompressed -o sample.zna

# Sequence length encoding (max sequence length)
zna encode sample.fastq \
  --seq-len-bytes 1 \  # Max 255 bp
  -o short_reads.zna

zna encode sample.fastq \
  --seq-len-bytes 2 \  # Max 65,535 bp (default)
  -o sample.zna

zna encode sample.fastq \
  --seq-len-bytes 4 \  # Max 4.2 billion bp
  -o long_reads.zna

Decoding

Basic Decoding

# To FASTA file
zna decode sample.zna -o output.fasta

# To gzipped FASTA
zna decode sample.zna -o output.fasta.gz

# To stdout (pipe-friendly)
zna decode sample.zna | head -n 1000

# From stdin
cat sample.zna | zna decode -o output.fasta

Paired-End Decoding

# Interleaved output (default)
zna decode paired.zna -o interleaved.fasta

# Split to R1/R2 files (use # placeholder)
zna decode paired.zna -o reads#.fasta
# Creates: reads_1.fasta and reads_2.fasta

# Split with gzip
zna decode paired.zna -o reads#.fasta.gz
# Creates: reads_1.fasta.gz and reads_2.fasta.gz

# Restore original strand for strand-specific libraries
zna decode stranded.zna --restore-strand -o reads.fasta

Piping Examples

# Extract first 1M reads
zna decode large.zna | head -n 2000000 > subset.fasta

# Count sequences
zna decode sample.zna | grep -c "^>"

# Convert to gzipped output via pipe
zna decode sample.zna --gzip > output.fasta.gz

# Chain operations
zna decode sample.zna | seqtk seq -r - | gzip > reversed.fasta.gz

Inspecting Files

# Show file statistics
zna inspect sample.zna

Example Output:

File: sample.zna
Total Size: 45.32 MB

--- Header Metadata ---
Read Group:       Sample_01
Description:      Experiment XYZ
Seq Length:       2 bytes (Max: 65535 bp)
Strand Specific:  True
R1 Antisense:     True
R2 Antisense:     False
Compression:      ZSTD (Level 3)

--- Content Statistics ---
Total Blocks:       356
Total Records:      1000000
Compressed Payload: 42.15 MB
Uncompressed Data:  125.50 MB
Compression Ratio:  2.98x

---

Command Reference

zna encode

Convert FASTQ/FASTA to ZNA format.

Usage:

zna encode [FILE1] [FILE2] [OPTIONS]

Positional Arguments:
  FILE1 [FILE2]          Input files (0=stdin, 1=single/interleaved, 2=paired R1 R2)

Options:
  --interleaved          Treat input as interleaved (auto-detects mixed paired/single reads)
  --shuffle              Shuffle records after encoding (for ML training data)
  --seed N               Random seed for --shuffle (default: 42)
  --fasta                Force FASTA format (overrides extension detection)
  --fastq                Force FASTQ format (overrides extension detection)

Metadata:
  --read-group TEXT      Read group ID (default: "Unknown")
  --description TEXT     Description string
  --strand-specific      Flag library as strand-specific (default: R1 antisense, R2 sense)
  --strand-normalize     Enable strand normalization (RC reads to consistent strand).
                         With --strand-specific: deterministic (antisense reads RC'd).
                         Without: random RC (for unstranded data).
  --read1-sense          Read 1 represents sense strand
  --read1-antisense      Read 1 represents antisense strand (default when --strand-specific)
  --read2-sense          Read 2 represents sense strand (default when --strand-specific)
  --read2-antisense      Read 2 represents antisense strand
  --npolicy {drop,random,A,C,G,T}
                         Policy for handling 'N' nucleotides:
                         - drop: skip sequences containing N
                         - random: replace N with random base (A/C/G/T)
                         - A/C/G/T: replace N with specific base

Format Options:
  -o, --output FILE      Output file (default: stdout)
  --seq-len-bytes N      Bytes for sequence length: 1, 2, or 4 (default: 2)
  --block-size N         Block size in bytes (default: 131072)
  --zstd                 Force Zstd compression
  --uncompressed         Force uncompressed
  --level N              Zstd compression level 1-22 (default: 3)

zna decode

Convert ZNA to FASTA format.

Usage:

zna decode [FILE] [OPTIONS]

Positional Arguments:
  FILE                   Input ZNA file (default: stdin)

Options:
  -o, --output FILE      Output FASTA file. Use '#' for split R1/R2
  -q, --quiet            Suppress progress messages
  --gzip                 Force gzip compression for stdout
  --restore-strand       Restore original strand orientation for antisense reads

zna inspect

Display ZNA file statistics.

Usage:

zna inspect FILE

  input FILE             Input ZNA file to inspect

zna shuffle

Randomly shuffle records in a ZNA file with bounded memory usage. Preserves paired-end read associations.

Usage:

zna shuffle INPUT -o OUTPUT [OPTIONS]

Positional Arguments:
  INPUT                  Input ZNA file to shuffle

Options:
  -o, --output FILE      Output ZNA file (required)
  -s, --seed N           Random seed for reproducibility (default: 42)
  -b, --buffer-size SIZE Maximum memory per bucket (default: 1G)
                         Accepts K/M/G suffixes (e.g., 512M, 2G)
  --block-size SIZE      Block size for output ZNA (default: 4M)
  --tmp-dir DIR          Directory for temporary files (default: system temp)
  -q, --quiet            Suppress progress messages

Algorithm: Uses bucket shuffle with bounded memory:

1. Randomly distributes records into K temporary bucket files on disk
2. Shuffles each bucket in memory using Fisher-Yates algorithm
3. Concatenates shuffled buckets to produce uniform random permutation

Examples:

# Shuffle with default settings (1GB memory, seed 42)
zna shuffle input.zna -o shuffled.zna

# Shuffle with custom seed for reproducibility
zna shuffle input.zna -o shuffled.zna --seed 12345

# Shuffle with limited memory (512MB buffer)
zna shuffle input.zna -o shuffled.zna --buffer-size 512M

# Shuffle paired-end data (pairs stay together)
zna shuffle paired.zna -o shuffled_paired.zna

Note: Paired-end reads (R1+R2) are kept together as a single shuffle unit.

---

Performance Characteristics

Compression Ratios

Typical compression ratios compared to raw FASTQ:

Format	Size	Ratio	Notes
FASTQ (uncompressed)	100%	1.0x	Baseline
FASTQ.gz (gzip -6)	25-30%	3-4x	Standard
ZNA (uncompressed)	12-15%	6-8x	2-bit encoding only
ZNA (Zstd L3)	8-10%	10-12x	Fast compression (default)
ZNA (Zstd L9)	6-8%	12-16x	High compression

Results vary based on sequence complexity and redundancy

Speed

• Encoding: ~5-10M reads/second (single thread)
• Decoding: ~8-15M reads/second (single thread)
• Block-based: Enables parallel processing (future)

Memory Usage

• Streaming I/O: Constant memory usage
• Default block size: 128KB buffer
• No index required: Sequential scan

---

Technical Details

2-Bit Encoding

DNA bases are encoded in 2 bits:

A = 00 = 0
C = 01 = 1
G = 10 = 2
T = 11 = 3

Four bases pack into one byte:

Byte: [B1][B2][B3][B4]
      76 54 32 10  (bit positions)

Lookup Tables

Pre-computed lookup tables provide O(1) encoding/decoding:

• Encoding: 256-element array mapping ASCII → 2-bit
• Decoding: 256-element tuple mapping byte → 4-character string

Block-Based Architecture

Data is organized in independently compressed blocks:

• Advantages: Random access, parallel processing potential
• Overhead: ~12 bytes per block
• Optimal size: 128KB balances compression ratio and I/O

Compression Strategy

• Zstd: Modern compression algorithm (Facebook)
• Reusable compressor: Amortizes initialization cost
• Memoryview parsing: Zero-copy decompression
• Pre-sized buffers: Eliminates reallocations

---

Strand-Specific Libraries

ZNA supports strand-specific RNA-seq libraries by normalizing all reads to sense strand orientation during encoding. This enables consistent downstream analysis while preserving the ability to restore original strand information.

How It Works

1. Encoding: Antisense reads are reverse-complemented to sense strand
2. Storage: All reads stored in sense orientation
3. Decoding: Use --restore-strand to recover original orientation

Strand Normalization

The --strand-normalize flag controls whether reads are reverse-complemented to a consistent strand during encoding:

• With --strand-specific: Deterministic normalization — antisense reads are reverse-complemented to sense orientation based on the library protocol. Each read's IS_RC flag records whether it was flipped.
• Without --strand-specific: Random reverse-complementing for unstranded data. Useful for data augmentation in ML training.
• Without --strand-normalize: Reads are stored in their original orientation (no reverse-complementing).

# Strand-normalized encoding (most common for stranded RNA-seq)
zna encode R1.fq.gz R2.fq.gz --strand-specific --strand-normalize -o lib.zna

# Decode with original strand orientation restored
zna decode lib.zna --restore-strand -o original.fasta

# Decode with sense-normalized sequences (for alignment)
zna decode lib.zna -o normalized.fasta

Strand Flags

Flag	Description
--strand-specific	Enable strand-specific mode (default: R1 antisense, R2 sense)
--read1-sense	Read 1 represents sense strand
--read1-antisense	Read 1 represents antisense strand
--read2-sense	Read 2 represents sense strand
--read2-antisense	Read 2 represents antisense strand

Common Library Protocols

Protocol	R1	R2	ZNA Flags
dUTP / TruSeq Stranded	antisense	sense	--strand-specific (default)
Illumina Stranded mRNA	antisense	sense	--strand-specific
fr-firststrand	antisense	sense	--strand-specific
fr-secondstrand	sense	antisense	--strand-specific --read1-sense --read2-antisense
Ligation (ScriptSeq)	sense	antisense	--strand-specific --read1-sense --read2-antisense

Examples

# dUTP/TruSeq protocol (most common - this is the default)
zna encode R1.fastq.gz R2.fastq.gz --strand-specific -o library.zzna

# fr-secondstrand protocol
zna encode R1.fastq.gz R2.fastq.gz \
  --strand-specific --read1-sense --read2-antisense \
  -o library.zzna

# Decode with sense-normalized sequences (for alignment)
zna decode library.zzna -o normalized.fasta

# Decode with original strand orientation restored
zna decode library.zzna --restore-strand -o original.fasta

---

Per-Sequence Labels

ZNA can store numeric metadata as compact columnar label columns alongside each sequence. Labels are parsed from key-value tags in FASTQ headers (e.g. output from samtools fastq -T), but the tag format is not limited to SAM — any KEY:TYPE:VALUE field in the header will work, and keys can be any length.

Defining Labels on the CLI

# Two labels with descriptions
zna encode reads.fq.gz -o reads.zna \
  --label NH:C --label AS:i \
  --label-desc NH:"Number of hits" --label-desc AS:"Alignment score"

The --label format is NAME:TYPE where TYPE is one of: A, c, C, s, S, i, I, f, d, q, Q. Use the smallest type that fits your data to minimize file size.

Decoupled Name and Tag

By default, the label name (stored in the ZNA header) is also used as the tag to parse from input. You can decouple these with the 3-part format NAME:TYPE:TAG:

# Store as "edit_dist" in ZNA, but parse "NM" tag from input headers
zna encode reads.fq.gz -o reads.zna \
  --label edit_dist:C:NM --label aln_score:i:AS

# Custom long-form tags (not SAM) work too
zna encode reads.fq.gz -o reads.zna \
  --label score:i:alignment_score --label edits:C:edit_distance

The tag is only used at encode time and is not stored in the ZNA file. When decoding, the label name is used in the output.

Defining Labels with a YAML File

For many labels, define them in a YAML file instead of many CLI flags:

zna encode reads.fq.gz -o reads.zna --label-defs labels.yaml

# labels.yaml
labels:
  - name: NM
    type: C
    description: Edit distance
    missing: 255
  - name: aln_score
    type: i
    tag: AS                    # parse "AS" from input, store as "aln_score"
    description: Alignment score
    missing: -1

CLI flags --label and --label-desc override values from the YAML file, so you can keep a YAML base and tweak individual labels per run.

See examples/labels.yaml for a fully-commented template.

Decoding Labeled Files

# Include labels as SAM-style tags in the output
zna decode reads.zna --labels > output.fq

# Inspect to see label definitions
zna inspect reads.zna

Python API with Labels

from zna.core import ZnaHeader, ZnaWriter, ZnaReader
from zna.dtypes import LabelDef, parse_dtype

defs = (
    LabelDef(0, "NM", "Edit distance", parse_dtype("C"), missing=255),
    LabelDef(1, "AS", "Alignment score", parse_dtype("i"), missing=-1),
)
header = ZnaHeader(read_group="sample", labels=defs)

with open("out.zna", "wb") as f:
    with ZnaWriter(f, header) as w:
        w.write_record("ACGT", is_paired=False,
                        is_read1=False, is_read2=False,
                        label_values=(3, 280))

with open("out.zna", "rb") as f:
    reader = ZnaReader(f)
    for seq, is_paired, is_r1, is_r2, labels in reader.records_with_labels():
        print(seq, labels)  # ACGT (3, 280)

---

Use Cases

Recommended For

• ✅ Long-term archival: High compression with fast retrieval
• ✅ Data transfer: Reduced bandwidth requirements
• ✅ Cloud storage: Lower storage costs
• ✅ Pipeline integration: Unix-friendly streaming
• ✅ Reference storage: Efficient genome/transcriptome storage

Not Recommended For

• ❌ Random access: Sequential format (no index)
• ❌ Quality scores: Sequences only (use CRAM/BAM for qualities)
• ❌ Small files: Overhead outweighs benefits (<10K reads)
• ❌ Real-time streaming: Use case requires quality scores

---

Comparison with Other Formats

Feature	ZNA	FASTA	FASTQ	CRAM	FASTA.gz
Compression	Excellent	None	None	Excellent	Good
Speed	Fast	Fastest	Fast	Slow	Medium
Quality Scores	❌	❌	✅	✅	❌
Paired-End	✅	❌	❌	✅	❌
Random Access	❌	✅	✅	✅	❌
Streaming	✅	✅	✅	Limited	✅
Dependencies	1	0	0	Many	0

---

Python API

In addition to the CLI, ZNA provides a Python API:

from zna import ZnaHeader, ZnaWriter, ZnaReader, COMPRESSION_ZSTD

# Writing
header = ZnaHeader(
    read_group="Sample_01",
    compression_method=COMPRESSION_ZSTD,
    compression_level=5
)

with open("output.zzna", "wb") as f:
    with ZnaWriter(f, header) as writer:
        writer.write_record("ACGTACGT", is_paired=False, 
                          is_read1=False, is_read2=False)
        writer.write_record("TGCATGCA", is_paired=False,
                          is_read1=False, is_read2=False)

# Reading
with open("output.zzna", "rb") as f:
    reader = ZnaReader(f)
    print(f"Read Group: {reader.header.read_group}")
    
    for seq, is_paired, is_read1, is_read2 in reader.records():
        print(seq)

---

Development

Running Tests

# All tests
PYTHONPATH=src pytest -v

# Specific test suite
PYTHONPATH=src pytest tests/test_cli.py -v
PYTHONPATH=src pytest tests/test_core.py -v

# With coverage
PYTHONPATH=src pytest --cov=zna tests/

Code Quality

# Format code
black src/ tests/

# Type checking
mypy src/zna/

---

Limitations

1. Sequences only: No quality scores, headers, or annotations
2. Sequential access: No random access without full scan
3. DNA/RNA only: A, C, G, T bases (N or IUPAC codes not supported)
4. Case insensitive: Lowercase converted to uppercase
5. No index: Full file scan required for record counting

---

Future Enhancements

• Parallel compression/decompression
• Optional index for random access
• Support for IUPAC ambiguity codes
• Memory-mapped I/O for large files
• Streaming statistics (GC content, length distribution)

---

License

GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPLv3)

---

Citation

If you use ZNA in your research, please cite:

Iyer, M. (2026). ZNA: A compressed binary format for nucleic acid sequences.
GitHub: https://github.com/mkiyer/zna

---

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Add tests for new functionality
4. Ensure all tests pass
5. Submit a pull request

---

Contact

• Author: Matthew Iyer
• Email: [e-mail]
• Issues: https://github.com/mkiyer/zna/issues