Installation of LigPlot+ on Ubuntu

Dr. Muniba Faiza
2 Min Read

LigPlot+ is a bioinformatics software to visually analyze the protein-ligand interactions in 2D [1]. It requires a Java interface to run and can be executed on Ubuntu, Windows, and macOS. In this tutorial, we will install LigPlot+ on Ubuntu. 

Preparing

At first, update and upgrade your system using the following commands:

$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get upgrade

Also, Ligplot+ requires the latest version of the Java SE Runtime Environment (JRE) which can be found here.

Downloading Ligplot+

The latest version of LigPlot [2] can be downloaded from here. You have to register yourself first which will be valid for a year. It can be easily downloaded again.

Installing

Open a terminal and change to the directory where you have downloaded the software. Let’s say here it is ‘Downloads’.

$ cd Downloads

$ unzip LigPlus.zip

Executing LigPlot+

Open a terminal and type the following command:

$ java -cp /path/ -jar LigPlus.jar

here /path/ is the path to the directory where the LigPlus.jar file is located.

It will open the LigPlot+.

You can also create an alias.

Open the terminal and type the following commands:

$ sudo gedit ~/.bashrc

It will open the bashrc file, go to the end of the file and add the following command:

alias ligplus='java -cp /path/LigPlus/ -jar /path/LigPlus.jar'

Save the file, go back to the terminal and type:

$ source ~/.bashrc

To start, Ligplot+, type $ ligplus in a terminal.

References

  1. Laskowski, R. A., & Swindells, M. B. (2011). LigPlot+: multiple ligand-protein interaction diagrams for drug discovery.
  2. Wallace, A. C., Laskowski, R. A., & Thornton, J. M. (1995). LIGPLOT: a program to generate schematic diagrams of protein-ligand interactions. Protein engineering, design and selection8(2), 127-134.
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Dr. Muniba is a Bioinformatician based in New Delhi, India. She has completed her PhD in Bioinformatics from South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China. She has cutting edge knowledge of bioinformatics tools, algorithms, and drug designing. When she is not reading she is found enjoying with the family. Know more about Muniba
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