Ontology Driven Data Collection for EuPathDB

EuPathDB is a public resource of protozoan parasite genomic and functional genomic data. To address community needs, information on isolate specimens, and on genetic manipulation and phenotype data will be collected directly from scientists. In order to facilitate data exploration, exchange, sharing and reuse, such data needs to be well-structured with standardized annotation. However, data collection in a uniform format remains challenging. In this report, we leverage existing ontologies to semantically represent the two cases of (1) isolate and (2) genetic manipulation and phenotype data with a focus on the needs/requirements of the EuPathDB community. Using ontology-based models, we designed submission forms and incorporated ontology terms for annotation with the goal of minimizing the burden on end users to submit standardized data.