GraphML-SBGN bidirectional converter for metabolic networks.

Systems biology researchers need feasible solutions for editing and visualisation of large biological diagrams. Here, we present the ySBGN bidirectional converter that translates metabolic pathways, developed in the general-purpose yEd Graph Editor (using the GraphML format) into the Systems Biology Graphical Notation Markup Language (SBGN-ML) standard format and vice versa. We illustrate the functionality of this converter by applying it to the translation of the ReconMap resource (available in the SBGN-ML format) to the yEd-specific GraphML and back. The ySBGN tool makes possible to draw extensive metabolic diagrams in a powerful general-purpose graph editor while providing results in the standard SBGN format.

GraphML specializations to codify ancestral recombinant graphs.

Software which simulates, infers, or analyzes ancestral recombination graphs (ARGs) faces the problem of communicating them. Existing formats omit information either about the location of recombinations along the chromosome or the position of recombinations relative to the branching topology. We present a specialization of GraphML, an XML-based standard for mathematical graphs, for communication of ARGs. The GraphML type is specialized to contain the node type, time, recombination location, and name. The GraphML type is specialized to contain the ancestral material passed along that edge. This approach, which we call ArgML, retains all information in the original ARG. Due to its use of established formats ArgML can be parsed, checked and displayed by existing software.