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Visualize

The Visualize dropdown gives you publication-ready statistical charts driven by your processed data. Each chart is interactive Plotly — zoom, hover, export to PNG.

[Screenshot: PCA plot colored by sample groups]

Open a visualization

Click the Visualize tab dropdown in the top action bar. Pick a chart type from the menu.

Available charts

ChartWhat it showsBest for
PCAPrincipal component analysis in 2D or 3DSample clustering, outlier detection
CorrelationSample-to-sample correlation matrix heatmapQC — replicates should correlate
HeatmapMetabolite intensity matrix with hierarchical clusteringPattern discovery across many compounds
Box PlotDistribution of intensities by sample or metaboliteSpotting outliers per compound
DendrogramHierarchical clustering treeSample or metabolite relationships
VolcanoLog2 fold-change vs −log10 p-valueDifferential analysis between two groups
QC DashboardDetection rates + verdict distribution + scoring summaryTop-line health check
Metabolite NetworkCorrelation-based network of co-regulated metabolitesModule detection
Sample NetworkSimilarity network of samplesReplicate consistency at a glance
Bipartite NetworkSample-to-metabolite connection graphTop contributors per sample
Pathway NetworkKEGG pathway mappingBiological context

Settings sidebar

Each chart has a collapsible Settings sidebar on the right with chart-specific options. Common ones:

SettingWhere it appearsWhat it does
NormalizationHeatmap, PCA, networksZ-score, log2, raw, or median centering
ClusteringHeatmap, dendrogramLinkage method (ward, complete, average) and metric (euclidean, correlation)
Group coloringMost chartsColor points by the sample groups you defined in the sidebar
Threshold slidersVolcano, networksFold-change cutoff, p-value cutoff, edge threshold
2D / 3DPCAToggle dimensionality

Volcano plot — special requirements

Volcano needs exactly two sample groups. Set them up first:

  1. Open the sample selector sidebar from the Peak Picking view
  2. Use the lightning-bolt button to auto-group, or manually assign samples to two groups (e.g., WT and KO)
  3. Switch to Visualize → Volcano
  4. Configure the fold-change and p-value cutoffs in the sidebar

Compounds passing both thresholds appear as colored points. Hover any point for the compound name and stats.

[Screenshot: volcano plot with significant compounds highlighted]

Network charts

The four network types use different inputs:

  • Metabolite network — edges are pairwise correlations between metabolites
  • Sample network — edges are pairwise correlations between samples
  • Bipartite network — edges connect samples to their top contributing metabolites
  • Pathway network — edges come from KEGG pathway membership

Adjust the edge threshold slider to control density. Drag nodes to rearrange.

Exporting charts

Plotly's built-in toolbar (top-right of each chart) has:

  • 📷 Camera — download as PNG
  • 🔍 Zoom, pan, reset
  • 📏 Box select — for downstream filtering

For publication-quality SVG export, use your browser's screenshot or print-to-PDF — Plotly's PNG export is currently raster only.

Next step

Export your data

LEAF is open source. Made by the Morscher Lab.