POC Conf. Call 1-10-12

POC meeting, Webex Conference Call; Date: Tuesday Jan 10th, 2012 10am (PST)

In attendance:

POC members:

Absent:

Collaborators: none

Any changes or corrections (additions/deletions, etc) needed in the minutes from the POC_Conf._Call_1-3-12?

Back to POC Meetings Minutes

Term Requests from Agron-Omics

At the recent EBI Crop Ontology meeting PJ met with Sean Walsh

Arabidopsis GROwth Network integrating OMICS technologies

please see: Items_for_future_meetings for more info.

Anatomical spaces:

Requests:

• mesophyll and/or spongy mesophyll intercellular space: A space between adjacent (spongy) mesophyll cells.

• substomatal cavity: Cavity located immediately proximal to the stoma.

We suggest creating new a general term for intercellular space, plus one for leaf mesophyll intercellular space. Then spongy mesophyll intercellular space and substomatal cavity can be specific subtypes.

proposed new term: intercellular space (PO:0025379): A plant anatomical space that is located inside a portion of plant tissue between two or more cells.

comment: Often located in mesophyll tissue. This term does not include spaces on the surface of a plant structure, like a stomatal pore, stomium, or micropyle, nor larger cavities or canals that are surrounded by tissue, such as an archegonium neck canal.

proposed new term: leaf mesophyll intercellular space (PO:0025380): An intercellular space that is part of a leaf mesophyll.

Comment: Includes the air spaces in the spongy mesophyll and substomatal cavities.

proposed new term: spongy mesophyll intercellular space (PO:0025381): A leaf mesophyll intercellular space that is part of a spongy mesophyll.

leaf sinus

suggested def'n: :Part of leaf margin. A small depression between two projecting lobes of a leaf.

Suggest adding the new term as parent: phyllome sinus (PO:0025383): A plant anatomical space that is a phyllome marginal embayment, incision or indentation between marginal projections of any sort, typically lobes, teeth, or the base of cordate phyllomes.

part of phyllome margin,

Revised def'n for requested term: leaf sinus (PO:0025384): A phyllome sinus that is a marginal embayment, incision or indentation between marginal projections of any sort, typically lobes, teeth, or the base of cordate leaves.

leaf sinus (new term) is a phyllome sinus (new term), part of leaf margin (rather than leaf lamina margin)

Perhaps it would be best to make it part of a lamina margin, since these can occur on any laminar structure? I don't think the term sinus is used for 3 dimensional structures. Doesn't have to go there as only flattened or laminar organs or organ parts will have a margin. By the same token, do we really need leaf lamina margin?

definition of leaf sinus from 'Manual of Leaf Architecture' (Ellis et al,2009): A marginal embayment, incision, or indentation between marginal projections of any sort, typically lobes, teeth, or the base of cordate leaves. (ISBN: 978-0-8014-4)

Portions of plant substance:

requested term:

• epicuticular wax: The plant cuticle is covered by epicuticular wax. It consists of a mixture of organic compounds. Epicuticular wax forms an above ground boundary layer between a plant and its environment.

* Existing term: cuticle (PO:0000022)

current def'n.: A layer of fatty material, cutin, rather impervious to water, located on the outer walls of epidermal cells. (ISBN:0471245208).

The cuticle is composed of a cuticular membrane, which is which is made mostly of cutin, adjacent to the epidermis, and the layer of epicuticular wax on top.

Image from Kunst and Samuels:

proposed revised def'n., cuticle (PO:0000022): A plant anatomical substance composed of a polyester matrix of hydroxy- and hydroxy epoxy fatty acids C16 and C18 long (cutin), embedded and overlayed with cuticular wax and forming a layer on the surface of a plant epidermis.

comment: The cuticle is produced in and secreted by epidermal cells of leaves, stems, fruits, and other aerial plant structures. It has as parts an inner cuticle proper and an outer layer of epicuticular wax.

is_a portion of plant substance, adjacent_to epidermis

ref: PMID:12467640

proposed new term: cuticle proper (PO:0025387): A portion of plant substance that is the inner layer of a cuticle, composed primarily of cutin, embedded and overlayed with cuticular wax.

synonyms: cutin matrix

ref: PMID:12467640

proposed new term: cutin (PO:0025385): A portion of plant substance that is composed of a polyester matrix of hydroxy- and hydroxy epoxy fatty acids C16 and C18 long (Need to check on other components; may want to work on wording a little)

Comment: Cutin is the insoluble, covalently cross-linked polymer that forms an electron dense layer over the epidermal cells of an areal plant structure.

ref: PMID:12467640

proposed new term: cuticular wax (PO:0025386): A portion of plant substance comprised predominantly of very long chain aliphatic lipids and is part of a cuticle.

Comment: Also includes triterpenoids and minor secondary metabolites, such as sterols and flavonoids. May be embedded within or external to the layer of cutin of the cuticle proper. Phenotypically wax distinguished as the glaucous or whitish bloom on a part of a plant shoot system that corresponds to crystalloid epicuticular wax with light scattering capacity.

ref: PMID:12467640, PO_REF:00010

Revised def'n for requested term, epicuticular wax(PO:0025388): A portion of cuticular wax that forms crystalloids or a smooth film on the exterior of a cuticle.

comment: Epicuticular waxes may take a variety of forms, such as plates, ribbons, tubes, and rods.

adjacent_to cuticle proper

ref: PMID:12467640, PO_REF:00010

proposed new term: intercuticular wax (PO:0025389): A portion of cuticular wax that is an amorphous mixture of lipids embedded in the cutin of a cuticle proper.

part_of cuticle proper

ref: PMID:12467640, PO_REF:00010

These terms will be a good opportunity for us to add links to ChEBI.

CHEBI:33653 aliphatic compound

New terms and changes arising from last week's discussion

seed (PO:0009010)

During a discussion at the POC meeting on 10-18-11, we realized that it would be best to have seed be a subtype of plant structure.

Current def.: A propagating organ formed in the reproductive cycle of gymnosperms and angiosperms, derived from the ovule and enclosing an embryo. [source: APWeb:Glossary, GR:Pankaj_Jaiswal] comment: The seed is representative of a next generation of sporophyte.

New proposed def.: A plant structure that develops from an ovule and contains an embryo enclosed in a seed coat.

Comment: A seed generally develops from an ovule after fertilization, but may develop without fertilization in the case of adventitious embryos, somatic embryos, or other embryos that arise through apogamy. A seed is a reproductive unit of seed plants (gymnosperms and angiosperms).

develops_from ovule, has_part embryo

Also removed seed part_of fruit relation, added seed to subsets for gymnosperms and angiosperms.

spore (PO:0025017)

Spore is_a cell, which is correct, but it is also a whole plant. Just as we changed the definition of plant zygote to reflect its dual nature, I suggest we change spore. Also suggest that we rename it plant spore, for consistency.

Current definition: A plant cell that arises through meiosis and develops into a gametophyte.

New proposed name and definition, plant spore: A single-celled whole plant that arises through meiosis and develops into a multi-celluar gametophyte.

Need to check if gametophytes are always multicellular in green algae.

plant spore stage (PO:0025375)

proposed definition: A gametophyte development stage that occurs during the interval between meiosis and the germination of a spore.

comment: The plant spore stage ends with the first cell division of a spore. Includes the stage when a megaspore is present before it develops into a megagametophyte or embryo sac and the stage when a microspore is present before it develops into a microgametophyte or pollen.

intersection of is_a gametophyte development stage, has_participant spore

plant spore dormant stage (PO:0025376)

proposed definition: A gametophyte dormant stage during which a spore participates in a dormancy process.

Comment: A dormancy process (GO:0022611) is a developmental process in which dormancy (sometimes called a dormant state) is induced, maintained or broken. Dormancy is a suspension of most physiological activity and growth that can be reactivated.

is_a gametophyte dormant stage, has_participant spore

Because plant spore stage is an XP of is_a gametophyte development stage and has_participant spore, this will be inferred to be is_a plant spore stage.

plant embryo dormant stage (PO:0025377)

proposed definition: A sporophyte dormant stage during which a plant embryo participates in a dormancy process.

Comment: A dormancy process (GO:0022611) is a developmental process in which dormancy (sometimes called a dormant state) is induced, maintained or broken. Dormancy is a suspension of most physiological activity and growth that can be reactivated. In seed plants, a plant embryo dormant stage may be part of a seed dormant stage.

is_a sporophyte dormant stage, has_participant plant embryo

Since plant embryo stage is an XP of is_a sporophyte development stage and has_participant plant embryo, this will be inferred to be is_a plant embryo stage.

Also added seed dormant stage has_ part plant embryo dormant stage. Can't add the inverse part_of relation, because not all embryo dormancy occurs in seeds.

Upcoming meetings and Presentations 2011/2012:

PAG 2012

January 14-18, 2012, San Diego, California

PO will be represented at the following events:

• Ontology workshop, Saturday January 14th from 10:20am-12:30pm: Use of Ontologies for Organizing Plant and Animal Genomics Data. We have 5 speakers and time at the end for a panel discussion.

PJ will give the introductory remarks at the Ontology workshop, and hopefully take part in the Panel Discussion.

For more info, see the PAG 2012 Ontology workshop wiki page.

• LC is also presenting in the Non-Seed Plant Workshop on Saturday, Jan 14th, (3:50pm-6pm) and in the Plant Phenotypes workshop on Sunday, Jan. 15th, (8:00am - 10:10am).

• We will also do a computer demo Monday 12:50 pm for the PO.

• The PO will also take part in an Outreach booth organized by MaizeGDB- schedule TBA

-Do we want to host the wiki page for the booth again?

Phenotype RCN meeting, 23-25 February 2012

The dates: February 23-25, 2012 (Thursday, Friday, 1/2 Saturday) have been confirmed for the next annual Phenotype RCN meeting.

It will be held again at NESCent (Durham, NC).

RW has a friend there she can stay with and is interested in going.

This meeting will focus on bringing in new people and training them on how to develop and use anatomy ontologies. RW offered to help with the training.

The projects of the Plant Working Group that we started in CO will be worked on during the next meeting.

Eva said that they can cover RW's plane fare from NY.

Maize Genetics Meeting, March 15-18, 2012

The maize meetings are being held in Portland, OR this year.

For more info see: Maize Genetics Meeting 2012

Registration Link: 2012 Maize Genetics Conference Registration Page will open on December 30, 2011.

Deadlines: Advance meeting registration is due by January 31, 2012.

5th International Biocuration Conference

April 2-4, 2012, Washington DC

• Abstract was submitted December 9, 2011 for consideration for a talk (or else a poster). MS was co-author.

See link: File:Abs Biocuration 2012 (LC 12-9-11).pdf

• Notification date: February 3, 2012

From 9-27-11: PJ is planning to attend and will be running a biocuration workshop- is this happening?

SPNHC 2012

Annual meeting of the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections

Yale University, New Haven Connecticut June 11-16, 2012

Any interest in making a PO presentation at this meeting? Perhaps RW and/or DWS could just go for the day of the presentation, since it is local (New Haven, CT).

The theme for the meeting is "Emerging Technology and Innovation in Natural History Collections Management" (focus on the tools, innovative methods and collaborations that will move the natural history collections community forward).

From PJ: If we can show progress in the FNA work or Morphobank yes we should

Botany 2012

July 7 - 11, 2012 - Columbus, Ohio

Call for Symposia, Colloquia and Workshops:

RW, DWS and MAG put together a proposal for a half day hands-on workshop. The goal will be to teach people (mostly botanists) how to access and use the PO, including how to send feedback, suggest new terms, etc.

Proposal was submitted, waiting for news.

PJ: suggest that we go there with a 'draft' version of the Plant Phenotype Ontology and show them how to use these in character matrixes.

exhibitor's booth

We should also consider hosting an outreach booth.

Not a bad deal for non-profits: $500 for A 10 x 10 Booth Space at Botany 2012, and 2 complimentary registrations for the conference. (plus all the extras!)

• 2 months of Rotating Banner Ads in the online American Journal of Botany

• A Rotating Banner Ad in one edition of the online Plant Science Bulletin

• A Rotating Banner Ad on the Botany 2012 abstract submission site

• A Rotating Banner Ad on the 2012 Conference Registration site.

PJ will check with Gramene and Doreen Ware to see if they want to co-host a booth.

Annotation wiki

JP may also give a talk on the new annotation wiki at this meeting, as part of the genomics section.

ASPB Plant Biology 2012

July 20 - 24, 2012 - Plant Biology 2012, Austin, TX

Registration scheduled to open first week in January.

Early Bird Registration: by May 11

Advance Discounted: May 12-June 15

ICBO 2012

International Conference on Biomedical Ontologies (ICBO 2012), July 22nd-25th, Graz, Austria

co-located with the 7th International Conference on Formal Ontologies in Information Systems (FOIS 2012)

Relevant dates

• Jan. 31st, 2012: Paper submission deadline
• Feb. 28th, 2012: Notification of paper acceptance
• March 15th, 2012: Poster, early career symposium, software demonstrations and workshop papers submission deadline
• April 15th, 2012: Notification of poster, early career symposium, software demonstrations and workshop paper acceptance
• June 30th 2012: Deadline for all camera-ready copies for the proceedings

We have until Jan. 31 to submit a paper. Do we want to try to prepare a manuscript for this?

Possible topics: finding commonality in development stages across the plant kingdom (revisions of PGDSO), plant phenotypes in ontologies, community driven annotation efforts (new application from JP and others), others?

BS would like to collaborate on a preliminary paper on Plant Disease Ontology. RW will review IDO and summarize what is there already for plants, what is needed, how it will link to PO. LC will also collaborate.

BS will be organizing an OBO Foundry meeting the afternoon of the day before the conference starts

Next meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 17th, 2012 at 10am PST/1pm EST

Although LC will be at the PAG meeting, the rest of the group will meet to work on new definitions for vascular terms that are needed for the Wood Ontology meeting.