New Polynomial-Time Algorithm around the Scaffolding Problem

Abstract : We describe in this paper an approximation algorithm for the scaffolding problem, which is part of genome inference in bioinformatics. The aim of the problem is to find a maximum weighted collection of disjoint alternating cycles and paths covering a particular graph called scaffold graph. The problem is known to be NP-complete, and we describe further result concerning a special class of graphs aiming to be close to real instances. The described algorithm is the first polynomial-time approximation algorithm designed for this problem on non-complete graphs.