FluMut is an open-source tool designed to search for molecular markers with potential impact on the biological characteristics of Influenza A viruses of the A(H5N1) subtype, starting from complete or partial nucleotide genome sequences.

A marker is defined as a set of amino acid mutations (one or more mutations located in the same or different proteins) for which a phenotypic effect has been demonstrated. FluMut is based on a database containing a list of markers previously described in the literature as associated with:

• increased zoonotic potential
• increased virulence in different host categories
• increased/conferred resistance towards antiviral drugs

This database will be periodically updated with new described markers.

For each marker identified within the submitted sequences, the tool provides information on:

• the position of the mutations composing the marker
• the effect of the marker as described in the literature
• the influenza subtype in which the marker was observed or tested
• the corresponding bibliographic references

In addition, the tool generates an Excel workbook for a better visualisation of the results, as described in the outputs section.

The FluMut functionality will be soon extended to all influenza A subtypes.