mutate_immundata: Add or change annotation columns in ImmunData

In immundata: A Unified Data Layer for Large-Scale Single-Cell, Spatial and Bulk Immunomics

Add or change annotation columns in ImmunData

Description

Use mutate() to add information to each row of an ImmunData object. For example, you can calculate CDR3 length, mark sequences of interest, or compare receptor sequences with reference sequences.

The function returns a new ImmunData object. The original object is not changed.

This function is a direct implementation of dplyr::mutate. Alternative function name is mutate_immundata.

Usage

mutate_immundata(idata, ..., .by = NULL, seq_options = NULL)

## S3 method for class 'ImmunData'
mutate(.data, ..., .by = NULL, seq_options = NULL)

Arguments

idata, .data	An ImmunData object.
...	One or more named calculations in the form new_column = calculation. Refer to existing columns directly by name. You can add new annotation columns or change columns that are not protected.
.by	Optional columns used to form temporary groups for this operation. For example, .by = Response calculates separately for each response, and .by = c(Response, imd_group_id) uses each response and receptor-cluster combination. The grouping applies only to this mutate() call.
seq_options	Options for comparing sequences with reference sequences or patterns. Create these options with make_seq_options(). If NULL, the default, no sequence comparisons are performed.

Details

You can use mutate() in three ways:

• Supply named calculations in ... to create annotation columns from existing data. For example, cmv_specific = cdr3_aa %in% cmv_cdr3s adds a column containing TRUE or FALSE for each row.

• Supply .by to perform calculations separately for temporary groups. The number of rows does not change. A group statistic is repeated for all rows in that group.

• Supply seq_options, created with make_seq_options(), to compare a sequence column with one or more reference sequences or patterns. One result column is added for each reference.

Named calculations in ... are performed before sequence comparisons.

Most grouped calculations are translated directly to DuckDB. Some group statistics, such as n_distinct(), are not available as DuckDB window calculations when a large dataset must stay on disk. In that case, mutate() automatically calculates one summary row per group and joins the values back to the annotation rows. This remains lazy and does not load the full dataset into R memory.

The automatic fallback works when every calculation in the call produces one value per group. If a call combines a row-level calculation with a group statistic that needs the fallback, use two mutate() calls. Also use a second call when a later calculation refers to a group statistic created by the fallback. See the examples below.

Columns used to identify receptors or repertoires, and identifiers managed by ImmunData, are protected. This prevents accidental changes that would make the object inconsistent. You can add new columns and change other annotation columns.

Sequence comparison methods are:

• "exact": TRUE when the sequence is identical to the reference.

• "regex": TRUE when the sequence matches a regular-expression pattern. This is an advanced option for matching text patterns.

• "lev": the number of substitutions, insertions, or deletions needed to change one sequence into the other.

• "hamm": the number of different positions between sequences of the same length. Sequences with different lengths receive NA.

For the distance methods, 0 means an exact match and smaller values mean more similar sequences. With name_type = "index", the result columns have short names such as imd_sim_exact_1 or imd_sim_lev_1. With name_type = "pattern", each column name includes its reference pattern.

max_dist is used by filter_immundata() but has no effect here because mutate() reports every calculated distance.

Existing repertoire and strata summaries are carried to the new object without modification.

Value

A new ImmunData object containing the added or changed annotation columns. Existing repertoire and strata summaries are preserved.

See Also

dplyr::mutate(), make_seq_options(), filter_immundata(), annotate_receptors(), agg_repertoires(), ImmunData

Examples

library(immundata)
library(dplyr)

options(immundata.verbose = FALSE)

# Load data included with immundata
idata <- get_test_idata()

# Add the length of each CDR3 amino acid sequence
idata_with_length <- idata |>
  mutate(cdr3_length = dd$length(cdr3_aa))

idata_with_length |>
  collect() |>
  select(cdr3_aa, cdr3_length) |>
  slice_head(n = 3)
# Expected result:
#   cdr3_aa       cdr3_length
#   ASFPVLSPYNEQF          13
#   ASRAGAGTGELF           12
#   ASSPGQGLDTQY           12

# Compare CDR3 sequences with one reference sequence
reference_cdr3 <- "ASFPVLSPYNEQF"

idata_with_matches <- idata |>
  mutate(
    seq_options = make_seq_options(
      query_col = "cdr3_aa",
      patterns = reference_cdr3,
      method = "exact"
    )
  )

idata_with_matches |>
  collect() |>
  count(imd_sim_exact_1)
# Expected result:
#   imd_sim_exact_1     n
#   FALSE            1901
#   TRUE                1

# Calculate Levenshtein distance from the reference sequence
idata_with_distance <- idata |>
  mutate(
    seq_options = make_seq_options(
      query_col = "cdr3_aa",
      patterns = reference_cdr3,
      method = "lev"
    )
  )

idata_with_distance |>
  collect() |>
  select(cdr3_aa, imd_sim_lev_1) |>
  arrange(imd_sim_lev_1, cdr3_aa) |>
  slice_head(n = 3)
# Expected result:
#   cdr3_aa       imd_sim_lev_1
#   ASFPVLSPYNEQF             0
#   ASSPDSPSYNEQF             4
#   ASSPGLAAYNEQF             4

# Mark selected sequences
cmv_cdr3s <- c(
  "ASFPVLSPYNEQF",
  "ASRAGAGTGELF"
)

marked_sequences <- idata |>
  mutate(
    cmv_specific = cdr3_aa %in% cmv_cdr3s
  )

marked_sequences |>
  collect() |>
  count(cmv_specific)
# Expected result:
#   cmv_specific     n
#   FALSE         1900
#   TRUE             2

# Mark selected receptor identities
cmv_hits <- tibble(
  imd_receptor_id = c(1L, 105L),
  cmv_specific = TRUE
)

marked_receptors <- idata |>
  annotate_receptors(cmv_hits) |>
  mutate(
    cmv_specific = coalesce(cmv_specific, FALSE)
  )

marked_receptors |>
  collect() |>
  count(cmv_specific)
# Expected result:
#   cmv_specific     n
#   FALSE         1898
#   TRUE             4

# Add response-level statistics to every annotation row
# `.by` means: calculate separately for each response.
response_stats <- idata |>
  mutate(
    response_n_rows = n(),
    response_n_receptors = n_distinct(imd_receptor_id),
    .by = Response
  )

response_stats |>
  collect() |>
  distinct(Response, response_n_rows, response_n_receptors) |>
  arrange(Response)
# Expected result:
#   Response response_n_rows response_n_receptors
#   FR                   955                  871
#   PR                   947                  867

# A grouped calculation can also produce a different value for every row.
response_centered <- idata |>
  mutate(
    centered_counts = counts - mean(counts, na.rm = TRUE),
    .by = Response
  )

# Do not combine that row-level calculation with a statistic that needs the
# automatic summary fallback in the same call:
# idata |>
#   mutate(
#     centered_counts = counts - mean(counts, na.rm = TRUE),
#     response_n_receptors = n_distinct(imd_receptor_id),
#     .by = Response
#   )

# Use two mutate calls instead. The work remains lazy in DuckDB.
response_details <- idata |>
  mutate(
    centered_counts = counts - mean(counts, na.rm = TRUE),
    .by = Response
  ) |>
  mutate(
    response_n_receptors = n_distinct(imd_receptor_id),
    .by = Response
  )

# Also use a second call when a new calculation uses a statistic created by
# the fallback.
response_details <- idata |>
  mutate(
    response_n_receptors = n_distinct(imd_receptor_id),
    .by = Response
  ) |>
  mutate(
    twice_response_n_receptors = response_n_receptors * 2
  )

immundata documentation built on Aug. 26, 2026, 5:08 p.m.