Biology subjects

Scholz, U.

Publications and source records attributed to Scholz, U..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2022

DivBrowse - interactive visualization and exploratory data analysis of variant call matrices

BackgroundThe sequencing of whole genomes is becoming increasingly affordable. In this context large-scale sequencing projects are generating ever larger datasets of species-specific genomic diversity. As a consequence, more and more genomic data needs to be made easily accessible and analyzable to the scientific community. FindingsWe present DivBrowse, a web application for interactive visualization and exploratory analysis of genomic diversity data stored in Variant Call Format (VCF) files of any size. By seamlessly combining BLAST as an entry point together with interactive data analysis features such as principal component analysis in one graphical user interface, DivBrowse provides a novel and unique set of exploratory data analysis capabilities for genomic biodiversity datasets. The capability to integrate DivBrowse into existing web applications supports interoperability between different web applications. Built-in interactive computation of principal component analysis allows users to perform ad-hoc analysis of the population structure based on specific genetic elements such as genes and exons. Data interoperability is supported by the ability to export genomic diversity data in VCF and General Feature Format (GFF3) files. ConclusionDivBrowse offers a novel approach for interactive visualization and analysis of genomic diversity data and optionally also gene annotation data by including features like interactive calculation of variant frequencies and principal component analysis. The use of established standard file formats for data input supports interoperability and seamless deployment of application instances based on the data output of established bioinformatics pipelines.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2021

GiPS: Genomics-informed parent selection uncovers the breeding value of wheat genetic resources

The great efforts spent in the maintenance of past diversity in genebanks are rationalized by the potential role of plant genetic resources in future crop improvement - a concept whose practical implementation has fallen short of expectations. Here, we implement genomics-informed parent selection to expedite pre-breeding without discriminating against non-adapted germplasm. We collect dense genetic profiles for a large winter wheat collection and evaluate grain yield and resistance to yellow rust in representative coresets. Genomic prediction within and across genebanks identified the best parents for PGR x elite derived crosses that outyielded current elite cultivars in multiple field trials.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2021

Quantitative monitoring of nucleotide sequence data from genetic resources in context of their citation in the scientific literature

BackgroundLinking nucleotide sequence data (NSD) to scientific publication citations can enhance understanding of NSDs provenance, scientific use, and re-use in the community. By connecting publications with NSD records, NSD geographical provenance information, and author geographical information, it becomes possible to assess the contribution of NSD to infer trends in scientific knowledge gain at the global level. FindingsFor this data note, we extracted and linked records from the European Nucleotide Archive to citations in open-access publications aggregated at Europe PubMed Central. A total of 8,464,292 ENA accessions with geographical provenance information were associated with publications. We conducted a data quality review to uncover potential issues in publication citation information extraction and author affiliation tagging and developed and implemented best-practice recommendations for citation extraction. Flat data tables and an data warehouse with an interactive web application were constructed to enable ad hoc exploration of NSD use and summary statistics. ConclusionsThe extraction and linking of NSD with associated publication citations enables transparency. The quality review contributes to enhanced text mining methods for identifier extraction and use. Furthermore, the global provision and use of NSD enables scientists around the world to join literature and sequence databases in a multidimensional fashion. As a concrete use case, statistics of country clusters were visualized with respect to NSD access in the context of discussions around digital sequence information under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2019

TRITEX: chromosome-scale sequence assembly of Triticeae genomes with open-source tools

Chromosome-scale genome sequence assemblies underpin pan-genomic studies. Recent genome assembly efforts in the large-genome Triticeae crops wheat and barley have relied on the commercial closed-source assembly algorithm DeNovoMagic. We have developed TRITEX, an open-source computational workflow that combines paired-end, mate-pair, 10X Genomics linked-read with chromosome conformation capture sequencing data to construct sequence scaffolds with megabase-scale contiguity ordered into chromosomal pseudomolecules. We evaluated the performance of TRITEX on publicly available sequence data of tetraploid wild emmer and hexaploid bread wheat, and constructed an improved annotated reference genome sequence assembly of the barley cultivar Morex as a community resource.

genomics↗