RT Journal
A1 Qi, Junhai
A1 Yang, Zhidong
A1 Yu, Ting
A1 Li, Guojun
T1 Enabling efficient and robust analysis of tandem repeats in genomic data using wavefront-based string decomposer
JF Genome Research 
JO Genome Research 
YR 2026 
FD April 08 
DO 10.1101/gr.281346.125 
SP gr.281346.125 
UL http://genome.cshlp.org/content/early/2026/04/08/gr.281346.125.abstract 
AB Tandem repeats (TRs) analysis is crucial for understanding genome structure and variation. However, string decomposition, a key challenge in TRs analysis, remains computationally demanding. In this study, we introduce Wavefront-based String Decomposer (WSD), a novel algorithm that enhances efficiency and accuracy in TRs decomposition. By integrating wavefront techniques, WSD significantly reduces computational and memory costs. Additionally, two adaptive strategies minimize parameter sensitivity and further improve efficiency. Through extensive experiments, we demonstrate that WSD outperforms current state-of-the-art (SOTA) methods, achieving an average speedup of ~ 2.33× and reducing memory usage by two orders of magnitude when analyzing human TRs.