Difference between revisions of "Ontologies"

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Phenoscape is using multiple ontologies to describe variation in phenotypes across species. We have developed several new ontologies required for evolutionary biology, but whenever possible, we are sharing existing ontologies with the broader biological communityThis will ensure the greatest interoperability between evolutionary and model organism data.
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The Phenoscape Project uses community anatomy, quality, spatial, and taxonomic ontologies for the annotation of phenotypes from the comparative biology literature. The development of these ontologies follows OBO Foundry principles as much as possible, including reuse of ontology terms as the preferred mechanism for using shared terms. These ontologies can be downloaded, searched, and visualized at [http://www.ontobee.org/ Ontobee], [http://bioportal.bioontology.org/ NCBO BioPortal], or downloaded from [http://www.obofoundry.org/ OBO Foundry]. Ontologies can also be edited and viewed using the [https://protege.stanford.edu/ Protégé] desktop software.
  
== Ontologies Initiated by Phenoscape ==
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= Anatomy Ontologies =
  
Phenoscape has developed ontologies that are required for the annotation of evolutionary phenotypes across species. These ontologies are publicly available and being used and extended by the community [[Contributors|(view the list of contributors)]].
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== Uberon Anatomy Ontology ==
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We use and contribute to the Uberon Anatomy Ontology, into which the Teleost Anatomy Ontology, Amphibian Anatomy Ontology, and Vertebrate Skeletal Anatomy Ontology were merged. More information about the development of Uberon can be found in [https://doi.org/10.1186/gb-2012-13-1-r5 Mungall et al. (2012)] and [http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/2041-1480-5-21 Haendel et al. (2014)].
  
These ontologies will keep changing to accommodate our community needs, and they have been admitted into the OBO CVS-based version-control system, from where the NCBO's BioPortal loads and updates ontologies on a regular basis.  Ontologies available at the [http://bioportal.bioontology.org/ BioPortal] can be browsed, searched, and visualized. Ontologies are also available for download as .obo files from the [http://bioportal.bioontology.org/ BioPortal] or [http://www.obofoundry.org/ OBO Foundry], and viewed using the [http://oboedit.org/ OBO-Edit] desktop software.
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Uberon is separated into a core file and an "extension" file (phenoscape-ext) which allows for separate editing by Phenoscape curators and the core Uberon developers. New terms required by Phensocape for annotation of vertebrate phenotypes are added to phenoscape-ext, which also contains the terms sourced from the TAO, AAO, and VSAO. We use the [https://protege.stanford.edu/ Protégé] desktop software to edit phenoscape-ext. The release version of Uberon contains both core and ext terms in a single file.
  
== Anatomy Ontologies ==
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* Ontology update requests can be made on the Uberon term request tracker: [https://github.com/obophenotype/uberon/issues]
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* Source edit file available here: [https://github.com/obophenotype/uberon-phenoscape-ext]
  
Phenoscape is coordinating the integration of model organism (zebrafish, Xenopus, mouse) and multi-species (see below) anatomy ontologies for vertebrates. Ontology update requests are made on the Vertebrate Anatomy term request tracker, and requests are forwarded to the vertebrate anatomy mailing list. Links to the term request and mailing list subscription page are below:
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phenoscape-ext.owl is the editors version. The release uberon/ext.owl retains the import chains and is pre-reasoned. uberon/ext.obo merges the import chain into one ontology because obo does not have good support for imports. Many of the other uberon derived artifacts such as composite-metazoan do not use ext but this may be changed in the future. See [http://uberon.org; uberon.org] for details of all the various cuts.
  
* [https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=76834&atid=2257941 Vertebrate anatomy term request page] (requests are forwarded to the mailing list):
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==Anatomy ontologies merged with Uberon and no longer under development ==
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===Vertebrate Skeletal Anatomy Ontology (VSAO) ===
  
* Subscribe to the [https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/obo-vertebrate-anatomy vertebrate anatomy mailing list]
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VSAO contains terms representing structures in the skeletal system of vertebrates. It references terms from the Common Anatomy Reference Ontology (CARO), Gene Ontology (GO) Biological Process, Cell Ontology (CL), and the Phenotype and Trait Ontology (PATO). VSAO can be downloaded at the [http://obofoundry.org/cgi-bin/detail.cgi?id=vertebrate_skeletal_anatomy OBO Foundry] and browsed at [http://bioportal.bioontology.org/ontologies/45737?p=terms BioPortal]. Development of the VSAO is described in [http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0051070 Dahdul et al. (2012)].
  
* Vertebrate anatomy list email: [mailto:obo-vertebrate-anatomy@lists.sourceforge.net obo-vertebrate-anatomy@lists.sourceforge.net]
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The VSAO as released represents the outcome of the [[Skeletal_Anatomy_Jamboree| skeletal anatomy workshop held at NESCent]] and [http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0051070 corresponding paper in PLOS ONE]. New skeletal terms for the limb/fin and cranial skeleton have and will continue to be added to the Phenoscape-ext ontology based on work done at the Phenotype RCN Vertebrate Working Group meeting in Boulder, CO (June 1-3, 2011) and from ongoing work.
  
[[WG:Anatomy_Ontology_Conf_calls | Notes from conference calls ]] for anatomy ontology coordination are maintained in the project intranet.
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=== Teleost Anatomy Ontology (TAO) ===
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TAO is a multi-species ontology for teleost fishes that was initialized with terms from the Zebrafish Anatomical Ontology (ZFA). The development of the TAO focused on the skeletal system because it varies significantly across fishes, is well-preserved in fossil specimens, and it is often the focus of morphologically-based evolutionary studies in ichthyology. The development of the TAO is described in [http://sysbio.oxfordjournals.org/content/59/4/369.full Dahdul et al. (2010)]. TAO can be downloaded from the [http://obofoundry.org/cgi-bin/detail.cgi?id=teleost_anatomy OBO Foundry]  and browse at [http://bioportal.bioontology.org/visualize/38362 BioPortal]. Further documentation [[Teleost_Anatomy_Ontology| about TAO is described here]].
  
=== Release Schedules and Features ===
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=== Amphibian Anatomy Ontology (AAO) ===
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AAO is a multispecies ontology for amphibian anatomy. Development of AAO is described in [https://doi.org/10.1142/9789812772435_0035 Maglia et al. (2007)]. View AAO at the [http://bioportal.bioontology.org/ontologies/AAO BioPortal]. The last updated version (April 2012) includes terms merged from the Xenopus Anatomy Ontology and updates from David Blackburn and Wasila Dahdul.
  
==== Vertebrate Anatomy Ontology ====
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==Model organism anatomy ontologies ==
'''Next target release date: Late August 2011'''
 
  
* New skeletal terms for the limb/fin and cranial skeleton will be added based on work done at the Phenotype RCN Vertebrate Working Group meeting.
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Phenotype data for model organisms are imported into the Phenoscape KB for mouse (MGI), human (HPO), zebrafish (ZFIN), and frog (Xenbase). Uberon maintains cross-references to terms from the corresponding model organism anatomy ontologies.
* Terms from external ontologies (GO, PATO, Cell) will be imported by MIREOT
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* New term request page at Sourceforge will be set up
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=== Mouse Adult Gross Anatomy (MA) ===
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The Adult Mouse Anatomy (MA) ontology contains terms that represent structures in the postnatal mouse (''Mus'') and is used to annotate gene expression and phenotypes for the mouse at [http://www.informatics.jax.org/ Mouse Genome Informatics (MGI)] and other resources. Development of the MA is described in [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1088948/ Hayamizu et al. (2005)].
  
====Amniote Anatomy Ontology====
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* The MA is available for download at the [http://obofoundry.org/cgi-bin/detail.cgi?id=adult_mouse_anatomy OBO Foundry] and can be browsed using the [http://www.informatics.jax.org/searches/AMA_form.shtml Mouse Anatomy Browser].
'''Initial release date: Late August 2011'''
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* Term requests can be submitted on the [http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=76834&atid=1205376 mouse anatomy tracker]
  
* VAO terms will be imported
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=== Xenopus Anatomy Ontology (XAO) ===
* Taxon restrictions for chick terms will be implemented
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XAO contains terms that represent anatomical structures for the model organism ''Xenopus laevis'' (African clawed frog). [http://www.xenbase.org Xenbase] uses XAO to annotate Xenopus gene expression and phenotypes.
* All terms will be defined
 
  
==== Amphibian Anatomy Ontology ====
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* XAO can be downloaded at the [http://obofoundry.org/cgi-bin/detail.cgi?id=xenopus_anatomy OBO Foundry] and browsed at the [http://bioportal.bioontology.org/ontologies/45264?p=terms BioPortal].
'''Next target release date: July 2011'''
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* Term tracker is available here: [https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=1127722&group_id=76834]
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* Source directory is available here: [http://phenoscape.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/phenoscape/trunk/vocab/xenopus_anatomy_2.0.8_eriks3.obo]
  
* Terms currently under “unclassified anatomical entity” will be given is_a parents
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=== Zebrafish Anatomical Ontology (ZFA) ===
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ZFA is used by [http://zfin.org ZFIN] to annotate mutant phenotypes for the model organsim zebrafish (''Danio rerio'').
  
==== Teleost Anatomy Ontology ====
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* Download from the [http://obofoundry.org/cgi-bin/detail.cgi?id=zebrafish_anatomy OBO Foundry] or browse at the [http://bioportal.bioontology.org/ontologies/1051 BioPortal].
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* Term requests can be submitted to the [http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=76834&atid=994726 ZFA tracker].
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* Edit version is kept internally at ZFIN, but a prerelease edit version is available at [http://obo.cvs.sourceforge.net/viewvc/obo/obo/ontology/anatomy/gross_anatomy/animal_gross_anatomy/fish/preversion.zfish.obo]
  
The [http://bioportal.bioontology.org/visualize/38362 Teleost Anatomy Ontology (TAO)] is a multi-species ontology that was initialized with terms from the Zebrafish Anatomical Ontology (ZFA). The development of the TAO currently focuses on the skeletal system because it varies significantly across fishes, is well-preserved in fossil specimens, and it is often the focus of morphologically-based evolutionary studies in ichthyology. Details about the development of the TAO can be found [[Teleost Anatomy Ontology | here]].
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ZFA terms are cross referenced to TAO terms, and these cross references will be maintained and updated as needed.
  
* Browse [http://bioportal.bioontology.org/visualize/38362 TAO at BioPortal]
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== Previous work on ontology coordination ==
* Download TAO from [http://bioportal.bioontology.org/ontologies/39222 Bioportal] or [http://www.obofoundry.org/ OBO Foundry] (use [http://oboedit.org/ OBO Edit] desktop software to open and view .obo file).
 
  
'''Next target release date: Late August 2011'''
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Previously, Phenoscape coordinated the development and integration of vertebrate skeletal terms across anatomy ontologies for vertebrates, with taxonomic focus on teleosts, zebrafish, amphibians, Xenopus, amniotes, and mouse. The limb/fin branch was the primary focus of ontology development in Phenoscape II. We held regular project [[Anatomy_Ontology_Conf_calls| anatomy ontology conference calls]] to discuss ontology development with the curators of the various anatomy ontologies (ZFA, XAO, MA). We also coordinated our development calls with the [http://phenotypercn.org Phenotype RCN] vertebrate working group. Currently, we use and contribute new terms to the Uberon anatomy ontology (metazoans) into which the Teleost Anatomy Ontology,  Amphibian Anatomy Ontology,  and Vertebrate Skeletal Anatomy Ontology were merged.
  
* High-level skeletal terms from VAO will be imported into TAO with the next release
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= Taxonomy Ontologies =
  
== Taxonomy Ontologies ==
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== Vertebrate Taxonomy Ontology (VTO) ==
  
=== Teleost Taxonomy Ontology ===
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The Vertebrate Taxonomy Ontology [http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/2041-1480-4-34 (Midford, Dececchi, et al. 2013)] includes the TTO, ATO, and uses the NCBI taxonomy as a source covering amniotes and basal chordates outside the scope of the TTO. The ontology has an assigned OBO purl [http://purl.obolibrary.org http://purl.obolibrary.org], and there is a repository at [https://code.google.com/p/vertebrate-taxonomy-ontology/ https://code.google.com/p/vertebrate-taxonomy-ontology/]. The current release covers vertebrates and was built by starting with the NCBI taxonomy for vertebrates and splicing in TTO (except hagfish), and the downloadable [http://amphibiaweb.org/amphib_names.txt amphibiaweb taxonomy].  Subspecies names were added to their parent species as synonyms (not subclasses). The taxonomy is currently in the available in OWL format, as generated by the OBO release tool. It also uses the Taxonomic Rank Vocabulary to tag taxa with specified rank.
Phenotypes are associated with species using a taxonomy ontology, the [[Teleost Taxonomy Ontology]] (TTO) derived from the [http://www.calacademy.org/RESEARCH/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatsearch.html Catalog of Fishes] (see also the [http://bioportal.bioontology.org/visualize/38363 representation on BioPortal], which can be navigated on-line). The TTO is updated in concert with Catalog of Fishes updates. Changes to the TTO relative to the latest version generated from a dump from the Catalog of Fishes are documented [[TTO_Changes]].
 
  
=== Amphibian Taxonomy Ontology ===
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*[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/taxonomyhome.html/ NCBI] This taxonomy provides the amniote portions of the current VTO. This provides taxonomy for GenBank submissions (including fossil taxa), but does not claim to be an authoritative source (and generally doesn't cover taxa that have not been submitted). It does provide some taxonomic synonyms as well.
The ATO is derived from the [http://amphibiaweb.org/ AmphibiaWeb] list, which provides both taxonomy and some synonyms from ITIS and the [http://www.iucnredlist.org/initiatives/amphibians IUCN redlist].
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*[http://paleodb.org/ Paleobiology Database] This covers all groups represented in the fossil record - we have implemented a way to incorporate bulk taxonomy downloads in the VTO. We are still somewhat uncertain about how hierarchies are (dynamically) built in this resource.
  
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These can provide links to additional synonyms and resources (e.g., TTO uses fishbase to provide common names and links to their pages). Taxonomic synonyms are particularly useful as aids to data curation, but common names can assist users in browsing the website. Taxonomic resources (above) can be used as sources of names as well.
  
=== Vertebrate Taxonomy Ontology ===
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*[http://www.fishbase.org/ Fishbase] - their taxonomy is close to TTO (both based on Catalog of Fishes). TTO (hence VTO) uses it as a source of common names and includes links to Fishbase's species pages.
The Vertebrate Taxonomy Ontology includes the TTO, ATO, as well as a new Amniote Taxonomy Ontology. An [http://phenoscape.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/phenoscape/trunk/vocab/vertebrate_taxonomy.obo | initial release], including TTO and ATO, but using pan-vertebrate resources (see below) rather than a separate AmTO was made in May 2011.
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*[http://gni.globalnames.org/ Global Names Index (GNI)] - Extensive list of names.
  
==== Amniotes ====
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== Teleost Taxonomy Ontology (TTO) ==
*Birds The [http://www.worldbirdnames.org/index.html IOC checklist] provides a current taxonomy and common names, but no taxonomic synonyms.
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The [[Teleost Taxonomy Ontology]] (TTO) is derived from the [http://www.calacademy.org/RESEARCH/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatsearch.html Catalog of Fishes] (see also the [http://bioportal.bioontology.org/visualize/38363 representation on BioPortal], which can be navigated on-line).  The TTO was developed from the Phenoscape I project and provides coverage of fish in the VTO.  The TTO is updated in concert with Catalog of Fishes updates.
*Mammals Wilson and Reader (1993) is the standard, but the available electronic version of their taxonomy is IP encumbered.
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* The TTO in OWL format is [http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/tto.owl available here].
 +
* Browse TTO [http://bioportal.bioontology.org/ontologies/38703 at BioPortal]
  
==== Taxonomic (hierarchy) Resources ====
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== Taxonomic Rank Vocabulary (TAXRANK) ==
*[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/taxonomyhome.html/ NCBI] This was used to fill in the gaps (non-avian amniotes) in the current proposed VTO. This provides taxonomy for GenBank submissions (including fossil taxa), but does not claim to be an authoritative source (and generally doesn't cover taxa that have not been submitted)It does provide some taxonomic synonyms as well.
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During 2010, we released a separate [[Taxonomic Rank Vocabulary]], and removed all rank terms (e.g., family, genus, etc.) from the taxa within the TTOTaxa in the TTO specify their ranks as property values via the metadata relation has_rank, but the object of the has_rank links is contained in the TAXRANK vocabulary.
*[http://www.itis.gov/ ITIS] Has some vetting by area experts, but coverage is not complete (nor uncontroversial).
 
  
==== Nomenclature Resources ====
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Developing TAXRANK as a vocabulary, rather than an ontology (e.g., by defining an ordering relation between ranks) should facilitate its reuse in other taxonomic ontologiesDeveloping a cross-authority (e.g., ICZN, ICBN, etc.) ontology of ranks may be possible, but there does not appear to be a compelling need for such an ontology.
These can provide links to additional synonyms and resources (e.g., TTO uses fishbase to provide common names and links to their pages).  Taxonomic synonyms are particularly useful as aids to data curation, but common names can assist users in browsing the websiteSome nomenclature resources act as aggregators of names from other sources (e.g., Catalogue of Life incorporates names from ITIS. Taxonomic resources (above) can be used as sources of names as well.
 
* [http://www.fishbase.org/ Fishbase] - their taxonomy is close to TTO (both based on Catalog of Fishes), but TTO uses it strictly as a name resource.
 
* [http://gni.globalnames.org/ Global Names Index (GNI)]
 
* [http://www.catalogueoflife.org/ Catalogue of Life]
 
  
==== Additional documentation ====
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* The TAXRANK vocabulary is available in OWL format [http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/taxrank.owl here].
* [[Documenting taxon concepts used in a publication]]
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* The vocabulary can be browsed at [http://bioportal.bioontology.org/ontologies/1419 Bioportal].
* [[Taxonomy ontology: ranks, unknown/unnamed species, & related issues]]
 
* [[Hypodigm|Ambiguous specimen information: annotating phenotypes for specimens or species]] (also called the Hypodigm problem)
 
  
=== Taxonomic Rank Vocabulary ===
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== Fish Collection Codes Vocabulary ==
During 2010, we released a separate [[Taxonomic Rank Vocabulary]] (TAXRANK), and removed all rank terms (e.g., family, genus, etc.) from the taxa within the TTO.  Taxa in the TTO specify their ranks as property values via the metadata relation has_rank, but the object of the has_rank links is contained in the TAXRANK vocabulary.
 
  
Developing TAXRANK as a vocabulary, rather than an ontology (e.g., by defining an ordering relation between ranks) should facilitate its reuse in other taxonomic ontologiesDeveloping a cross-authority (e.g., ICZN, ICBN, etc.) ontology of ranks may be possible, but there does not appear to be a compelling need for such an ontology.
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There is a flat vocabulary of fish collections, based on [http://research.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/abtabr.html a list used in Catalog of Fishes], though with a few additions listed on the [[Fish Collection Updates]] pageThe master list, from which the OBO-format ontology is generated is available as a [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmUeHhtnDeCZcDZpa1YwVG82Zlhwcmc4OTk4elJhTlE google docs spreadsheet]. It has been augmented with links to entries in the [http://biodiversitycollectionsindex.org/ Biodiversity Collections Index].
  
* Browse [http://bioportal.bioontology.org/ontologies/38703 TTO at BioPortal]
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The current release, as used in Phenex is
* Download TTO from [http://bioportal.bioontology.org/visualize/38703 Bioportal] or [http://www.obofoundry.org/ OBO Foundry] (use [http://oboedit.org/ OBO Edit] desktop software to open and view .obo file).
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[https://sourceforge.net/p/obo/svn/HEAD/tree/phenote/trunk/obo-files/fish_collection_abbreviation.obo Fish Collection Abbreviations]
  
=== Fish Collection Codes Ontology ===
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== Amphibian Taxonomy Ontology (ATO) ==
 +
The ATO has been deprecated in favor of generating the Amphibian component of the VTO directly from [http://amphibiaweb.org/amphib_names.txt Amphibiaweb].
 +
* [http://bioportal.bioontology.org/ontologies/40791?p=terms The version available at BioPortal] is very old and neither used in VTO nor recommended.
  
There is a vocabulary of fish collections, based on [http://research.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/abtabr.html a list used in Catalog of Fishes], though with a few additions listed on the [[Fish Collection Updates]] page.  It has been augmented with links to entries in the [http://biodiversitycollectionsindex.org/static/index.html Biodiversity Collections Index].
+
== Additional documentation ==
 +
* [[Documenting taxon concepts used in a publication]]
 +
* [[Taxonomy ontology: ranks, unknown/unnamed species, & related issues]]
 +
* [[Hypodigm|Ambiguous specimen information: annotating phenotypes for specimens or species]] (also called the Hypodigm problem)
  
The current release, as used in Phenex is
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= Shared Ontologies =
[https://obo.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/obo/phenote/trunk/obo-files/fish_collection_abbreviation.obo?view=markup Fish Collection Abbreviations]
 
 
 
== Shared Ontologies ==
 
  
 
These ontologies listed below were initiated by the model organism communities. Phenoscape is actively involved in extending these ontologies.
 
These ontologies listed below were initiated by the model organism communities. Phenoscape is actively involved in extending these ontologies.
 
=== Phenotype and Trait Ontology ===
 
  
 
* [http://bioportal.bioontology.org/visualize/38339 Phenotype and Trait Ontology (PATO)]
 
* [http://bioportal.bioontology.org/visualize/38339 Phenotype and Trait Ontology (PATO)]
 
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* [http://bioportal.bioontology.org/visualize/36625 Evidence Code Ontology]
=== Evidence Code Ontology ===
 
 
 
*[http://bioportal.bioontology.org/visualize/36625 Evidence Code Ontology]
 
 
 
=== Relations Ontology ===
 
 
* [http://www.obofoundry.org/ro/ OBO-relations]
 
* [http://www.obofoundry.org/ro/ OBO-relations]
 
+
* [http://bioportal.bioontology.org/visualize/29952 Spatial Ontology]
=== Spatial Ontology ===
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* [http://www.evolutionaryontology.org/ Comparative Data Analysis Ontology (CDAO)], developed by the [http://www.nescent.org/wg_evoinfo/Main_Page EvoInfo working group] at NESCent, and used within the Phenoscape OBD data repository.
*[http://bioportal.bioontology.org/visualize/29952 Spatial Ontology]
 
 
 
=== Comparative Data Analysis Ontology ===
 
CDAO is developed by the [http://www.nescent.org/wg_evoinfo/Main_Page EvoInfo working group] at NESCent, and is being used within the Phenoscape OBD data repository.
 
* [http://www.evolutionaryontology.org/ CDAO]
 
  
 
[[Category:Ontology]]
 
[[Category:Ontology]]

Latest revision as of 17:42, 17 July 2018

The Phenoscape Project uses community anatomy, quality, spatial, and taxonomic ontologies for the annotation of phenotypes from the comparative biology literature. The development of these ontologies follows OBO Foundry principles as much as possible, including reuse of ontology terms as the preferred mechanism for using shared terms. These ontologies can be downloaded, searched, and visualized at Ontobee, NCBO BioPortal, or downloaded from OBO Foundry. Ontologies can also be edited and viewed using the Protégé desktop software.

Anatomy Ontologies

Uberon Anatomy Ontology

We use and contribute to the Uberon Anatomy Ontology, into which the Teleost Anatomy Ontology, Amphibian Anatomy Ontology, and Vertebrate Skeletal Anatomy Ontology were merged. More information about the development of Uberon can be found in Mungall et al. (2012) and Haendel et al. (2014).

Uberon is separated into a core file and an "extension" file (phenoscape-ext) which allows for separate editing by Phenoscape curators and the core Uberon developers. New terms required by Phensocape for annotation of vertebrate phenotypes are added to phenoscape-ext, which also contains the terms sourced from the TAO, AAO, and VSAO. We use the Protégé desktop software to edit phenoscape-ext. The release version of Uberon contains both core and ext terms in a single file.

  • Ontology update requests can be made on the Uberon term request tracker: [1]
  • Source edit file available here: [2]

phenoscape-ext.owl is the editors version. The release uberon/ext.owl retains the import chains and is pre-reasoned. uberon/ext.obo merges the import chain into one ontology because obo does not have good support for imports. Many of the other uberon derived artifacts such as composite-metazoan do not use ext but this may be changed in the future. See uberon.org for details of all the various cuts.

Anatomy ontologies merged with Uberon and no longer under development

Vertebrate Skeletal Anatomy Ontology (VSAO)

VSAO contains terms representing structures in the skeletal system of vertebrates. It references terms from the Common Anatomy Reference Ontology (CARO), Gene Ontology (GO) Biological Process, Cell Ontology (CL), and the Phenotype and Trait Ontology (PATO). VSAO can be downloaded at the OBO Foundry and browsed at BioPortal. Development of the VSAO is described in Dahdul et al. (2012).

The VSAO as released represents the outcome of the skeletal anatomy workshop held at NESCent and corresponding paper in PLOS ONE. New skeletal terms for the limb/fin and cranial skeleton have and will continue to be added to the Phenoscape-ext ontology based on work done at the Phenotype RCN Vertebrate Working Group meeting in Boulder, CO (June 1-3, 2011) and from ongoing work.

Teleost Anatomy Ontology (TAO)

TAO is a multi-species ontology for teleost fishes that was initialized with terms from the Zebrafish Anatomical Ontology (ZFA). The development of the TAO focused on the skeletal system because it varies significantly across fishes, is well-preserved in fossil specimens, and it is often the focus of morphologically-based evolutionary studies in ichthyology. The development of the TAO is described in Dahdul et al. (2010). TAO can be downloaded from the OBO Foundry and browse at BioPortal. Further documentation about TAO is described here.

Amphibian Anatomy Ontology (AAO)

AAO is a multispecies ontology for amphibian anatomy. Development of AAO is described in Maglia et al. (2007). View AAO at the BioPortal. The last updated version (April 2012) includes terms merged from the Xenopus Anatomy Ontology and updates from David Blackburn and Wasila Dahdul.

Model organism anatomy ontologies

Phenotype data for model organisms are imported into the Phenoscape KB for mouse (MGI), human (HPO), zebrafish (ZFIN), and frog (Xenbase). Uberon maintains cross-references to terms from the corresponding model organism anatomy ontologies.

Mouse Adult Gross Anatomy (MA)

The Adult Mouse Anatomy (MA) ontology contains terms that represent structures in the postnatal mouse (Mus) and is used to annotate gene expression and phenotypes for the mouse at Mouse Genome Informatics (MGI) and other resources. Development of the MA is described in Hayamizu et al. (2005).

Xenopus Anatomy Ontology (XAO)

XAO contains terms that represent anatomical structures for the model organism Xenopus laevis (African clawed frog). Xenbase uses XAO to annotate Xenopus gene expression and phenotypes.

  • XAO can be downloaded at the OBO Foundry and browsed at the BioPortal.
  • Term tracker is available here: [3]
  • Source directory is available here: [4]

Zebrafish Anatomical Ontology (ZFA)

ZFA is used by ZFIN to annotate mutant phenotypes for the model organsim zebrafish (Danio rerio).

  • Download from the OBO Foundry or browse at the BioPortal.
  • Term requests can be submitted to the ZFA tracker.
  • Edit version is kept internally at ZFIN, but a prerelease edit version is available at [5]

ZFA terms are cross referenced to TAO terms, and these cross references will be maintained and updated as needed.

Previous work on ontology coordination

Previously, Phenoscape coordinated the development and integration of vertebrate skeletal terms across anatomy ontologies for vertebrates, with taxonomic focus on teleosts, zebrafish, amphibians, Xenopus, amniotes, and mouse. The limb/fin branch was the primary focus of ontology development in Phenoscape II. We held regular project anatomy ontology conference calls to discuss ontology development with the curators of the various anatomy ontologies (ZFA, XAO, MA). We also coordinated our development calls with the Phenotype RCN vertebrate working group. Currently, we use and contribute new terms to the Uberon anatomy ontology (metazoans) into which the Teleost Anatomy Ontology, Amphibian Anatomy Ontology, and Vertebrate Skeletal Anatomy Ontology were merged.

Taxonomy Ontologies

Vertebrate Taxonomy Ontology (VTO)

The Vertebrate Taxonomy Ontology (Midford, Dececchi, et al. 2013) includes the TTO, ATO, and uses the NCBI taxonomy as a source covering amniotes and basal chordates outside the scope of the TTO. The ontology has an assigned OBO purl http://purl.obolibrary.org, and there is a repository at https://code.google.com/p/vertebrate-taxonomy-ontology/. The current release covers vertebrates and was built by starting with the NCBI taxonomy for vertebrates and splicing in TTO (except hagfish), and the downloadable amphibiaweb taxonomy.  Subspecies names were added to their parent species as synonyms (not subclasses). The taxonomy is currently in the available in OWL format, as generated by the OBO release tool. It also uses the Taxonomic Rank Vocabulary to tag taxa with specified rank.

  • NCBI This taxonomy provides the amniote portions of the current VTO. This provides taxonomy for GenBank submissions (including fossil taxa), but does not claim to be an authoritative source (and generally doesn't cover taxa that have not been submitted). It does provide some taxonomic synonyms as well.
  • Paleobiology Database This covers all groups represented in the fossil record - we have implemented a way to incorporate bulk taxonomy downloads in the VTO. We are still somewhat uncertain about how hierarchies are (dynamically) built in this resource.

These can provide links to additional synonyms and resources (e.g., TTO uses fishbase to provide common names and links to their pages). Taxonomic synonyms are particularly useful as aids to data curation, but common names can assist users in browsing the website. Taxonomic resources (above) can be used as sources of names as well.

  • Fishbase - their taxonomy is close to TTO (both based on Catalog of Fishes). TTO (hence VTO) uses it as a source of common names and includes links to Fishbase's species pages.
  • Global Names Index (GNI) - Extensive list of names.

Teleost Taxonomy Ontology (TTO)

The Teleost Taxonomy Ontology (TTO) is derived from the Catalog of Fishes (see also the representation on BioPortal, which can be navigated on-line). The TTO was developed from the Phenoscape I project and provides coverage of fish in the VTO. The TTO is updated in concert with Catalog of Fishes updates.

Taxonomic Rank Vocabulary (TAXRANK)

During 2010, we released a separate Taxonomic Rank Vocabulary, and removed all rank terms (e.g., family, genus, etc.) from the taxa within the TTO. Taxa in the TTO specify their ranks as property values via the metadata relation has_rank, but the object of the has_rank links is contained in the TAXRANK vocabulary.

Developing TAXRANK as a vocabulary, rather than an ontology (e.g., by defining an ordering relation between ranks) should facilitate its reuse in other taxonomic ontologies. Developing a cross-authority (e.g., ICZN, ICBN, etc.) ontology of ranks may be possible, but there does not appear to be a compelling need for such an ontology.

  • The TAXRANK vocabulary is available in OWL format here.
  • The vocabulary can be browsed at Bioportal.

Fish Collection Codes Vocabulary

There is a flat vocabulary of fish collections, based on a list used in Catalog of Fishes, though with a few additions listed on the Fish Collection Updates page. The master list, from which the OBO-format ontology is generated is available as a google docs spreadsheet. It has been augmented with links to entries in the Biodiversity Collections Index.

The current release, as used in Phenex is Fish Collection Abbreviations

Amphibian Taxonomy Ontology (ATO)

The ATO has been deprecated in favor of generating the Amphibian component of the VTO directly from Amphibiaweb.

Additional documentation

Shared Ontologies

These ontologies listed below were initiated by the model organism communities. Phenoscape is actively involved in extending these ontologies.