Perspectives on tracking data reuse across biodata resources.

Motivation: Data reuse is a common and vital practice in molecular biology and enables the knowledge gathered over recent decades to drive discovery and innovation in the life sciences. Much of this knowledge has been collated into molecular biology databases, such as UniProtKB, and these resources derive enormous value from sharing data among themselves. However, quantifying and documenting this kind of data reuse remains a challenge. Results: The article reports on a one-day virtual workshop hosted by the UniProt Consortium in March 2023, attended by representatives from biodata resources, experts in data management, and NIH program managers. Workshop discussions focused on strategies for tracking data reuse, best practices for reusing data, and the challenges associated with data reuse and tracking. Surveys and discussions showed that data reuse is widespread, but critical information for reproducibility is sometimes lacking. Challenges include costs of tracking data reuse, tensions between tracking data and open sharing, restrictive licenses, and difficulties in tracking commercial data use. Recommendations that emerged from the discussion include: development of standardized formats for documenting data reuse, education about the obstacles posed by restrictive licenses, and continued recognition by funding agencies that data management is a critical activity that requires dedicated resources. Availability and implementation: Summaries of survey results are available at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1j-VU2ifEKb9C-sW6l3ATB79dgHdRk5v_lESv2hawnso/viewanalytics (survey of data providers) and https://docs.google.com/forms/d/18WbJFutUd7qiZoEzbOytFYXSfWFT61hVce0vjvIwIjk/viewanalytics (survey of users).

A machine learning-enabled open biodata resource inventory from the scientific literature.

Modern biological research depends on data resources. These resources archive difficult-to-reproduce data and provide added-value aggregation, curation, and analyses. Collectively, they constitute a global infrastructure of biodata resources. While the organic proliferation of biodata resources has enabled incredible research, sustained support for the individual resources that make up this distributed infrastructure is a challenge. The Global Biodata Coalition (GBC) was established by research funders in part to aid in developing sustainable funding strategies for biodata resources. An important component of this work is understanding the scope of the resource infrastructure; how many biodata resources there are, where they are, and how they are supported. Existing registries require self-registration and/or extensive curation, and we sought to develop a method for assembling a global inventory of biodata resources that could be periodically updated with minimal human intervention. The approach we developed identifies biodata resources using open data from the scientific literature. Specifically, we used a machine learning-enabled natural language processing approach to identify biodata resources from titles and abstracts of life sciences publications contained in Europe PMC. Pretrained BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) models were fine-tuned to classify publications as describing a biodata resource or not and to predict the resource name using named entity recognition. To improve the quality of the resulting inventory, low-confidence predictions and potential duplicates were manually reviewed. Further information about the resources were then obtained using article metadata, such as funder and geolocation information. These efforts yielded an inventory of 3112 unique biodata resources based on articles published from 2011-2021. The code was developed to facilitate reuse and includes automated pipelines. All products of this effort are released under permissive licensing, including the biodata resource inventory itself (CC0) and all associated code (BSD/MIT).

Germline specification and axis determination in viviparous and oviparous pea aphids: conserved and divergent features.

Aphids are hemimetabolous insects that undergo incomplete metamorphosis without pupation. The annual life cycle of most aphids includes both an asexual (viviparous) and a sexual (oviparous) phase. Sexual reproduction only occurs once per year and is followed by many generations of asexual reproduction, during which aphids propagate exponentially with telescopic development. Here, we discuss the potential links between viviparous embryogenesis and derived developmental features in the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum, particularly focusing on germline specification and axis determination, both of which are key events of early development in insects. We also discuss potential evolutionary paths through which both viviparous and oviparous females might have come to utilize maternal germ plasm to drive germline specification. This developmental strategy, as defined by germline markers, has not been reported in other hemimetabolous insects. In viviparous females, furthermore, we discuss whether molecules that in other insects characterize germ plasm, like Vasa, also participate in posterior determination and how the anterior localization of the hunchback orthologue Ap-hb establishes the anterior-posterior axis. We propose that the linked chain of developing oocytes and embryos within each ovariole and the special morphology of early embryos might have driven the formation of evolutionary novelties in germline specification and axis determination in the viviparous aphids. Moreover, based upon the finding that the endosymbiont Buchnera aphidicola is closely associated with germ cells throughout embryogenesis, we propose presumptive roles for B. aphidicola in aphid development, discussing how it might regulate germline migration in both reproductive modes of pea aphids. In summary, we expect that this review will shed light on viviparous as well as oviparous development in aphids.

The ELIXIR Core Data Resources: fundamental infrastructure for the life sciences.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

The European Bioinformatics Institute in 2020: building a global infrastructure of interconnected data resources for the life sciences.

Data resources at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI, https://www.ebi.ac.uk/) archive, organize and provide added-value analysis of research data produced around the world. This year's update for EMBL-EBI focuses on data exchanges among resources, both within the institute and with a wider global infrastructure. Within EMBL-EBI, data resources exchange data through a rich network of data flows mediated by automated systems. This network ensures that users are served with as much information as possible from any search and any starting point within EMBL-EBI's websites. EMBL-EBI data resources also exchange data with hundreds of other data resources worldwide and collectively are a key component of a global infrastructure of interconnected life sciences data resources. We also describe the BioImage Archive, a deposition database for raw images derived from primary research that will supply data for future knowledgebases that will add value through curation of primary image data. We also report a new release of the PRIDE database with an improved technical infrastructure, a new API, a new webpage, and improved data exchange with UniProt and Expression Atlas. Training is a core mission of EMBL-EBI and in 2018 our training team served more users, both in-person and through web-based programmes, than ever before.

The European Bioinformatics Institute in 2018: tools, infrastructure and training.

The European Bioinformatics Institute (https://www.ebi.ac.uk/) archives, curates and analyses life sciences data produced by researchers throughout the world, and makes these data available for re-use globally (https://www.ebi.ac.uk/). Data volumes continue to grow exponentially: total raw storage capacity now exceeds 160 petabytes, and we manage these increasing data flows while maintaining the quality of our services. This year we have improved the efficiency of our computational infrastructure and doubled the bandwidth of our connection to the worldwide web. We report two new data resources, the Single Cell Expression Atlas (https://www.ebi.ac.uk/gxa/sc/), which is a component of the Expression Atlas; and the PDBe-Knowledgebase (https://www.ebi.ac.uk/pdbe/pdbe-kb), which collates functional annotations and predictions for structure data in the Protein Data Bank. Additionally, Europe PMC (http://europepmc.org/) has added preprint abstracts to its search results, supplementing results from peer-reviewed publications. EMBL-EBI maintains over 150 analytical bioinformatics tools that complement our data resources. We make these tools available for users through a web interface as well as programmatically using application programming interfaces, whilst ensuring the latest versions are available for our users. Our training team, with support from all of our staff, continued to provide on-site, off-site and web-based training opportunities for thousands of researchers worldwide this year.

The European Bioinformatics Institute in 2017: data coordination and integration.

The European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) supports life-science research throughout the world by providing open data, open-source software and analytical tools, and technical infrastructure (https://www.ebi.ac.uk). We accommodate an increasingly diverse range of data types and integrate them, so that biologists in all disciplines can explore life in ever-increasing detail. We maintain over 40 data resources, many of which are run collaboratively with partners in 16 countries (https://www.ebi.ac.uk/services). Submissions continue to increase exponentially: our data storage has doubled in less than two years to 120 petabytes. Recent advances in cellular imaging and single-cell sequencing techniques are generating a vast amount of high-dimensional data, bringing to light new cell types and new perspectives on anatomy. Accordingly, one of our main focus areas is integrating high-quality information from bioimaging, biobanking and other types of molecular data. This is reflected in our deep involvement in Open Targets, stewarding of plant phenotyping standards (MIAPPE) and partnership in the Human Cell Atlas data coordination platform, as well as the 2017 launch of the Omics Discovery Index. This update gives a birds-eye view of EMBL-EBI's approach to data integration and service development as genomics begins to enter the clinic.

Species-level identification of the blowfly Chrysomya megacephala and other Diptera in China by DNA barcoding.

The blowfly Chrysomya megacephala, or oriental latrine fly, is the most common human-associated fly of the oriental and Australasian regions. Chrysomya megacephala is of particular interest for its use in forensic entomology and because it is a disease vector. The larvae are economically important as feed for livestock and in traditional Chinese medicine. Identification of adults is straightforward, but larvae and fragments of adults are difficult to identify. We collected C. megacephala, its allies Chrysomya pinguis and Protophormia terraenovae, as well as flies from 11 other species from 52 locations around China, then sequenced 658 base pairs of the COI barcode region from 645 flies of all 14 species, including 208 C. megacephala, as the basis of a COI barcode library for flies in China. While C. megacephala and its closest relative C. pinguis are closely related (mean K2P divergence of 0.022), these species are completely non-overlapping in their barcode divergences, thus demonstrating the utility of the COI barcode region for the identification of C. megacephala. We combined the 208 C. megacephala sequences from China with 98 others from public databases and show that worldwide COI barcode diversity is low, with 70% of all individuals belonging to one of three haplotypes that differ by one or two substitutions from each other, reflecting recent anthropogenic dispersal from its native range in Eurasia.

Old knowledge and new technologies allow rapid development of model organisms.

Until recently the set of "model" species used commonly for cell biology was limited to a small number of well-understood organisms, and developing a new model was prohibitively expensive or time-consuming. With the current rapid advances in technology, in particular low-cost high-throughput sequencing, it is now possible to develop molecular resources fairly rapidly. Wider sampling of biological diversity can only accelerate progress in addressing cellular mechanisms and shed light on how they are adapted to varied physiological contexts. Here we illustrate how historical knowledge and new technologies can reveal the potential of nonconventional organisms, and we suggest guidelines for selecting new experimental models. We also present examples of nonstandard marine metazoan model species that have made important contributions to our understanding of biological processes.

The European Bioinformatics Institute in 2016: Data growth and integration.

New technologies are revolutionising biological research and its applications by making it easier and cheaper to generate ever-greater volumes and types of data. In response, the services and infrastructure of the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI, www.ebi.ac.uk) are continually expanding: total disk capacity increases significantly every year to keep pace with demand (75 petabytes as of December 2015), and interoperability between resources remains a strategic priority. Since 2014 we have launched two new resources: the European Variation Archive for genetic variation data and EMPIAR for two-dimensional electron microscopy data, as well as a Resource Description Framework platform. We also launched the Embassy Cloud service, which allows users to run large analyses in a virtual environment next to EMBL-EBI's vast public data resources.

A formal re-description of the cockroach Hebardina concinna anchored on DNA Barcodes confirms wing polymorphism and identifies morphological characters for field identification.

BACKGROUND: Hebardina concinna is a domestic pest and potential vector of pathogens throughout East and Southeast Asia, yet identification of this species has been difficult due to a lack of diagnostic morphological characters, and to uncertainty in the relationship between macroptyrous (long-winged) and brachypterous (small-winged) morphotypes. In insects male genital structures are typically species-specific and are frequently used to identify species. However, male genital structures in H. concinna had not previously been described, in part due to difficulty in identifying conspecifics. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We collected 15 putative H. concinna individuals, from Chinese populations, of both wing morphotypes and both sexes and then generated mitochondrial COI (the standard barcode region) and COII sequences from five of these individuals. These confirmed that both morphotypes of both sexes are the same species. We then dissected male genitalia and compared genital structures from macropterous and brachypterous individuals, which we showed to be identical, and present here for the first time a detailed description of H. concinna male genital structures. We also present a complete re-description of the morphological characters of this species, including both wing morphs. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This work describes a practical application of DNA barcoding to confirm that putatively polymorphic insects are conspecific and then to identify species-specific characters that can be used in the field to identify individuals and to obviate the delay and cost of returning samples to a laboratory for DNA sequencing.

Reliable protocols for whole-mount fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) in the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum: a comprehensive survey and analysis.

RNA in situ hybridization (ISH), including chromogenic ISH (CISH) and fluorescent ISH (FISH), has become a powerful tool for revealing the spatial distribution of gene transcripts in model organisms. Previously, we developed a robust protocol for whole-mount RNA CISH in the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum, an emerging insect genomic model. In order to improve the resolving capacity of gene detection, we comprehensively surveyed current protocols of whole-mount RNA-FISH and developed protocols that allow, using confocal microscopy, clearer visualization of target messenger RNAs (mRNAs) - including those subcellularly localized and those with spatially overlapping expression. We find that Fast dye-based substrate fluorescence (SF), tyramide signal amplification (TSA), and TSA Plus all enable identifying gene expression thanks to multiplex amplification of fluorescent signals. By contrast, methods of direct fluorescence (DF) do not allow visualizing signals. Detection of a single gene target was achieved with SF and TSA Plus for most mRNAs, whereas TSA only allowed visualization of abundant transcripts such as Apvas1 and Appiwi2 in the germ cells. For detection of multiple gene targets using double FISH, we recommend: (i) TSA/TSA, rather than TSA Plus/TSA Plus for colocalized mRNAs abundantly expressed in germ cells, as proteinase K treatment can be omitted; and (ii) SF/TSA Plus for other gene targets such as Apen1 and Apen2 as inactivation of enzyme conjugates is not required. SF/SF is not ideal for double FISH experiments due to signal blurring. Based on these new conditions for RNA-FISH, we have obtained a better understanding of germline specification and embryonic segmentation in the pea aphid. We anticipate that the RNA-FISH protocols for the pea aphid may also be used for other aphids and possibly other insect species, thus expanding the range of species from which useful insights into development and evolution may be obtained.

Posterior localization of ApVas1 positions the preformed germ plasm in the sexual oviparous pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum.

BACKGROUND: Germline specification in some animals is driven by the maternally inherited germ plasm during early embryogenesis (inheritance mode), whereas in others it is induced by signals from neighboring cells in mid or late development (induction mode). In the Metazoa, the induction mode appears as a more prevalent and ancestral condition; the inheritance mode is therefore derived. However, regarding germline specification in organisms with asexual and sexual reproduction it has not been clear whether both strategies are used, one for each reproductive phase, or if just one strategy is used for both phases. Previously we have demonstrated that specification of germ cells in the asexual viviparous pea aphid depends on a preformed germ plasm. In this study, we extended this work to investigate how germ cells were specified in the sexual oviparous embryos, aiming to understand whether or not developmental plasticity of germline specification exists in the pea aphid. RESULTS: We employed Apvas1, a Drosophila vasa ortholog in the pea aphid, as a germline marker to examine whether germ plasm is preformed during oviparous development, as has already been seen in the viviparous embryos. During oogenesis, Apvas1 mRNA and ApVas1 protein were both evenly distributed. After fertilization, uniform expression of Apvas1 remained in the egg but posterior localization of ApVas1 occurred from the fifth nuclear cycle onward. Posterior co-localization of Apvas1/ApVas1 was first identified in the syncytial blastoderm undergoing cellularization, and later we could detect specific expression of Apvas1/ApVas1 in the morphologically identifiable germ cells of mature embryos. This suggests that Apvas1/ApVas1-positive cells are primordial germ cells and posterior localization of ApVas1 prior to cellularization positions the preformed germ plasm. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that both asexual and sexual pea aphids rely on the preformed germ plasm to specify germ cells and that developmental plasticity of germline specification, unlike axis patterning, occurs in neither of the two aphid reproductive phases. Consequently, the maternal inheritance mode implicated by a preformed germ plasm in the oviparous pea aphid becomes a non-canonical case in the Hemimetabola, where so far the zygotic induction mode prevails in most other studied insects.

The future of DNA sequence archiving.

Archives operating under the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration currently preserve all submitted sequences equally, but rapid increases in the rate of global sequence production will soon require differentiated treatment of DNA sequences submitted for archiving. Here, we propose a graded system in which the ease of reproduction of a sequencing-based experiment and the relative availability of a sample for resequencing define the level of lossy compression applied to stored data.

Towards BioDBcore: a community-defined information specification for biological databases.

The present article proposes the adoption of a community-defined, uniform, generic description of the core attributes of biological databases, BioDBCore. The goals of these attributes are to provide a general overview of the database landscape, to encourage consistency and interoperability between resources; and to promote the use of semantic and syntactic standards. BioDBCore will make it easier for users to evaluate the scope and relevance of available resources. This new resource will increase the collective impact of the information present in biological databases.

Towards BioDBcore: a community-defined information specification for biological databases.

The present article proposes the adoption of a community-defined, uniform, generic description of the core attributes of biological databases, BioDBCore. The goals of these attributes are to provide a general overview of the database landscape, to encourage consistency and interoperability between resources and to promote the use of semantic and syntactic standards. BioDBCore will make it easier for users to evaluate the scope and relevance of available resources. This new resource will increase the collective impact of the information present in biological databases.

Developmental expression of Apnanos during oogenesis and embryogenesis in the parthenogenetic pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum.

Among genes that are preferentially expressed in germ cells, nanos and vasa are the two most conserved germline markers in animals. Both genes are usually expressed in germ cells in the adult gonads, and often also during embryogenesis. Both nanos-first or vasa-first expression patterns have been observed in embryos, implying that the molecular networks governing germline development vary among species. Previously we identified Apvasa, a vasa homologue expressed in germ cells throughout all developmental stages in the parthenogenetic and viviparous pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum. In asexual A. pisum, oogenesis is followed by embryogenesis, and both occur within the ovarioles. In order to understand the temporal and spatial distribution of nanos versus vasa during oogenesis and embryogenesis, we isolated a nanos homologue, Apnanos, and studied its expression. In adults, Apnanos is preferentially expressed in the ovaries. In early embryos, Apnanos transcripts are localized to the cytoplasm of cellularizing germ cells, and soon thereafter are restricted to the newly segregated germ cells in the posterior region of the cellularized blastoderm. These results strongly suggest that the Apnanos gene is a germline marker and is involved in germline specification in asexual A. pisum. However, during the middle stages of development, when germline migration occurs, Apnanos is not expressed in the migrating germ cells expressing Apvasa, suggesting that Apnanos is not directly associated with germline migration.

ParaHox gene expression in larval and postlarval development of the polychaete Nereis virens (Annelida, Lophotrochozoa).

BACKGROUND: Transcription factors that encode ANTP-class homeobox genes play crucial roles in determining the body plan organization and specification of different organs and tissues in bilaterian animals. The three-gene ParaHox family descends from an ancestral gene cluster that existed before the evolution of the Bilateria. All three ParaHox genes are reported from deuterostomes and lophotrochozoans, but not to date from any ecdysozoan taxa, and there is evidence that the ParaHox genes, like the related Hox genes, were ancestrally a single chromosomal cluster. However, unlike the Hox genes, there is as yet no strong evidence that the ParaHox genes are expressed in spatial and temporal order during embryogenesis. RESULTS: We isolated fragments of the three Nereis virens ParaHox genes, then used these as probes for whole-mount in situ hybridization in larval and postlarval worms. In Nereis virens the ParaHox genes participate in antero-posterior patterning of ectodermal and endodermal regions of the digestive tract and are expressed in some cells in the segment ganglia. The expression of these genes occurs in larval development in accordance with the position of these cells along the main body axis and in postlarval development in accordance with the position of cells in ganglia along the antero-posterior axis of each segment. In none of these tissues does expression of the three ParaHox genes follow the rule of temporal collinearity. CONCLUSION: In Nereis virens the ParaHox genes are expressed during antero-posterior patterning of the digestive system (ectodermal foregut and hindgut, and endodermal midgut) of Nereis virens. These genes are also expressed during axial specification of ventral neuroectodermal cell domains, where the expression domains of each gene are re-iterated in each neuromere except for the first parapodial segment. These expression domains are probably predetermined and may be directed on the antero-posterior axis by the Hox genes, whose expression starts much earlier during embryogenesis. Our results support the hypothesis that the ParaHox genes are involved in antero-posterior patterning of the developing embryo, but they do not support the notion that these genes function only in the patterning of endodermal tissues.