Coffa files (.coffa) contain the demultiplexed sequencing output and several analysis properties of a single digitalMLPA reaction. These files are produced by Coffalyser digitalMLPA in the first steps of the data analysis using data from the FASTQ file(s).
As Coffa files are much smaller than FASTQ files (typically <1 MB), they can be useful to quickly share or transfer the results from a digitalMLPA experiment within your institute, or to send to MRC Holland for troubleshooting purposes. However, Coffa files are not suitable for long-term data storage, as their compatibility between different versions of the Coffalyser digitalMLPA data analysis software is not guaranteed. For long-term data storage or to share data across software versions, the FASTQ files should be used instead.
More information about Coffa files can be found in the Coffalyser digitalMLPA User Manual.
Each Coffa file contains the sequencing output of a single reaction. To analyse the results of an experiment, Coffa files for all reactions in the experiment are required.
Coffa files are not necessarily compatible between software versions, and should not be relied on for long-term data storage.