POC Conf. Call 5-10-11
POC meeting, Webex Conference Call; Date: Tuesday May 10th, 2011 10am (PDT)
In attendance:
POC members: Laurel Cooper (OSU), Ramona Walls (NYBG), Justin Preece (OSU), Justin Elsner (OSU), Pankaj Jaiswal (OSU), Dennis Stevenson (NYBG) Absent: Chris Mungall (Lawrence Berkeley National Lab)
Absent:Barry Smith (University at Buffalo, NY), Marie Alejandra Gandolfo (Cornell University)
Collaborators: none
Acceptance of the minutes from the POC_Conf._Call_5-06-11? No additions, deletions, or changes.
New images needed for browser
JE: I noticed in the server logs that errors are being created because we are missing images for participates_in and adjacent_to. Can someone create these for me to add to the browser?
We have an image for participates_in, need one for adjacent_to. Will send to JE.
Items arising from previous meetings:
Review of apical cell (PO:0030007) and its descendents
(This is a continuation of the discussion from POC_Conf._Call_4-28-11#apical_cell)
The problem:
Moss Ontology requested the term apical cell. Apical growth in byrophytes is via division of a single cell at the tip of the shoot apical meristem. They also requested shoot apical cell and phyllid apical cell.
The existing term in the PO, "apical cell (PO:0004000)" referred to "An embryonic plant cell that is the uppermost cell formed after the first division of the zygote". This term was obsoleted and replaced by embryonic apical cell (PO:0025284) for clarity.
A new term apical cell (PO:0030007) was created to be the general class for all apical cell types.
At the POC meeting on 4/28/11, we decided to name this term meristematic apical cell
meristematic apical cell (PO:0030007): New proposed def'n: A single meristematic cell at the tip of a plant structure where apical growth occurs.
is_a meristematic cell, sibling to initial cell
Proposed revised comment, for clarity: Meristematic apical cells occur only at the tip of a shoot axis apex, leaf apex, root apex, thallus apex or protonema in bryophytes and some pteridophytes. Apical growth in these structures results from division of a single meristematic cell located at the tip of an apical meristem or plant organ, (rather than from a population of meristematic cells located at the tip of an apical meristem). The meristematic apical cell may be tetrahedral shaped, with three (in shoots) or four (in roots) cutting faces, or wedge-shaped with two cutting faces (in non-vascular leaves or thalli) and may be established upon germination of a spore or upon the first cell division of an embryo or later.
Do we need a citation for this comment? (RW: Yes! Will add definition dbxrefs that cover this)
See: Apical cells
The issue:
At the POC_Conf._Call_4-28-11, there was an extensive discussion about whether to modify the definition of the existing 'apical cell' to refer to a general class encompassing the cell at the very tip of an angiosperm leaf or other any other structure.
The problem of adding a generic term for an "apical cell" is that it would cause confusion and it may not be biologically accurate.
The issue was raised that a scientist might isolate such a cell from the tip of a vascular leaf or root and be confused as to where the annotation should go.
Is there actually a single cell at the tip of a vascular leaf or root?
See the ppt below showing SAM and RAM tissues of angiosperms. There are references to stem cells in the central zone of the SAM, initial cells in the quiescent center of the RAM.
File:20-growth and development-02-A.pdf
See P.13: "The root apical meristem (RAM) is subterminal, but like the shoot apical meristem has a layered structure and a center of slowly dividing cells (the Quiescent Center (QC, shown in blue) surrounded by the initials for individual tissue (shown in green). (from Current Opinion in Genetics & Development 2003, 13:551–557)
The solution:
We can use the existing PO terms for cells at the leaf apex (PO:0020137) and leaf tip (PO:0025142),
For more precise work, we have the 'shoot apical meristem'(PO:0020148) and its part_of children (only some shown):
PO:0000224: central zone
PO:0009020: meristem L1
PO:0009021: meristem L2
PO:0009022: meristem L3
PO:0000225: peripheral zone
And the 'root apical meristem' (PO:0020147): and its part_of children (only some shown):
PO:0020149 : quiescent center (and its part_of child: root initial cell (PO:0000059))
PO:0006307 : root procambium
PO:0030008 : root apical cell ???? Should this be part_of RAM or part of root tip? Might be confusing if we make it part of RAM.
Although the term apical meristem is used to include the portion of tissue at the tip of a fern root that includes the root apical cell, using part_of RAM could lead to confusion. For now, we will make root apical cell part_of root tip. If it becomes widely accepted that there are apical meristems in plants that grow from apical cells, we can change it later.
We could also use always_in and never_in taxon relations to help clarify which taxa these are from. (once those relations are added)
There was a discussion of the nature of apical cells. Although they divide infrequently, it is still legitimate to call them meristematic cells. We should look at Steves and Sussex to see what they say about the apical meristem in plants that grow with apical cells. We accepted the above name and definition. Will try it and see if it works for our users.
New terms and definitions for apical cells
The definitions for the descendents of apical cell (listed below) were approved, pending approval of final definition of meristematic apical cell.
See above and POC_Conf._Call_4-26-11#apical_cell for more details.
We decided that we should append the names of the child terms with 'meristematic' in their names, except for embryonic apical cell, to ensure clarity.
gametophytic apical cell (PO:0030014) > gametophytic meristematic apical cell
sporophytic apical cell (PO:0030015) > sporophytic meristematic apcial cell
thallus apical cell (PO:0030025) > thallus meristematic apical cell
root apical cell (PO:0030008) > root meristematic apical cell
shoot apical cell (PO:0030009) > etc.
gametophore apical cell (PO:0030019)
leaf apical cell (PO:0030011)
non-vascular leaf apical cell (PO:0030013)
vascular leaf apical cell (PO:0030012)
shoot axis apical cell (PO:0030010)
gametophore axis apical cell (PO:0030023)
vascular shoot axis apical cell (PO:0030024)
seta apical cell (PO:0030016)
embryonic apical cell (PO:0025284, replaces PO:0004000)
Also need to add a term for protonema meristematic apical cell.
Should add term for protonema meristematic apical cell.
perianth calyptra (PO:0025299)
Proposed definition: A perianth that is composed of fused perianth parts and located on top of a gynoecium that contains an inferior ovary. (accepted at the POC meeting on 4-28-11)
Comment: May be composed of fused petals, sepals or tepals, but is generally formed from fused petals in Eucalyptus and other Myrtaceae. Sometimes erroneously referred to as part of a fruit. Not the same structure as a spore capsule calyptra.
is_a perianth, disjoint_from spore capsule calyptra
synonyms: floral calyptra (exact) and floral operculum (related)
Should we rename calytpra perianth? This would be more consistent with our usual naming practice of have the qualifiers first, and the is_a parent last.
We already have "angiosperm calyptra" as a narrow synonym of corolla (PO:0009059). In the synonym dbxref comment, it says: In angiosperms, the petals may be fused into a calyptra, which is different than a calytra in mosses. Note: this text does not show up on the Amigo browser, but it is in the obo file.
Suggest we remove this synonym, as it is redundant with the new term PO:0025299.
We will remove angiosperm calyptra as a synonym of perianth, and add it as a synonym of PO:0025299.
PO:0025299 will be renamed calyptra perianth.
Rhizoids
On 5/6/11, we agreed to add the term cotyledonary node rhizoid (PO:0025320).
In that case, we should also add the term cotyldonary node (PO:0025321)
Proposed definition: A stem node from which one or more cotyledons grow.
Agreed
Issues that still need to be dealt with:
gametophytic phase and sporophytic phase
sporophytic phase (PO:0028002)
Current definition: A plant life cycle phase that is the product of fertilization. [source: POC:rw]
Comment: During the sporophtyic phase, a plant may produce meiospores by meiosis.
Proposed definition: A plant life cycle phase (or a whole plant growth stage) that begins with fertilization or the division of a non-fertilized embryogenic cell.
Comment: During the sporophtyic phase, a plant may produce meiospores by meiosis. A whole plant in the sporophytic phase usually has twice the chromosome complement of a plant in the gametophytic phase, but may not in the case of apogamy or in vitro culture of haploid embryos.
New proposed definition: A whole plant growth stage that begins with fertilization or apogamy.
This covers the example of in vitro fusion of two haploid cells or two protoplasts. May need to update comment.
Will check that apospory and apogamy are in the GO Biological process ontology
gametophytic phase (PO:0028003)
Current definition: A plant life cycle phase that arises through meiosis. [source: POC:rw]
Comment: During the gametophytic phase, a plant may produce gametes by mitosis.
Proposed definition: A plant life cycle phase (or a whole plant growth stage) that begins with meiosis.
Comment: During the gametophytic phase, a plant may produce gametes by mitosis. In bryophytes and pteridophytes, a gametophytic phase may begin without meiosis by apospory. This usually occurs when damage to a plant in the sporophytic phase leads directly to the growth of a plant that is in the gametophytic phase but bears the chromosome complement that would normally be found in the sporophytic phase. A whole plant in the gametophytic phase usually has half the chromosome complement of a plant in the sporophytic phase, but not in the case of apospory.
New proposed definition: A whole plant growth stage that begins with meiosis or apospory.
Comment okay.
Status Report for Upcoming Release:
Highlights and Major Accomplishments in this Release:
-Addition of 41 new terms requested by the Physcomitrella group, 44 associated new terms that can be used for pteridophytes, and the addition of synonyms or minor modifications to 21 existing terms to make them applicable to a broader range of plants.
-Renamed Plant Structure Ontology to Plant Anatomy Ontology- note this is just the branch of the Plant Ontology, all terms still have the PO:xxxxxxx identifier
(note; problem on the dev browser- can't filter by the new 'plant anatomy' name)
Looked at filtering problem on dev browser. JE is looking into it.
-Revised the in vitro plant structures branch and the embryonic plant structures branch
-many other minor changes and fixes- see below for more details
-See the List of changes on our wiki which is available from the May_2011_Release_Page. In progress...
-List of terms that have been obsoleted or merged: New_terms_and_obsolete_terms_for_May2011_release. In progress...
Timeline for release:
-Complete required edits and changes (by the end of this week)
This should be possible.
Week of May 16th to 20th:
-Reassign annotations from terms that been obsoleted (about 10), along with database groups TAIR, Gramene, SGN, MaizeGDB, etc
-Load new file onto Beta browser to check for any issues with loading, annotations
- send link to reviewers- Physcomitrella group, po-internal, others??
-prepare release notices, update on PO page
PJ suggested that we schedule a webex session to give reviewers a brief tutorial on how to use PO. This should make it easier for them to do a more useful review.
The idea would be to demonstrate the new plant anatomy terms that have been added to accommodate mosses
People to invite: Physco group (Stefan Rensing, Daniel Lang, others), Scott Schuette (Southern Illinois University -- will present talk on Physco bioinformatics at our symposium at the IBC), Brent Mischler, Bill Buck (NYBG), M.L. Christianson (University of Kansas), B. Crandall-Stotler (Southern Illinois University), B. Goffinet (University of Connecticut), others.
Week of May 23-27th:
-fix any final issues that have come up
-Release on live browser
-Send out announcements
Other Issues:
Foreign language synonyms
Should we add foreign synonyms for this release? JE can easily insert the Spanish synonyms into the obo file, once RW sends him a final list. Need to add accents where needed, and replace with ASCII characters.
Should we append (Spanish) to the synonym, because right now the synonym type does not appear in Amigo?
Would be better to append something like SPANISH:spanish synonym
Should email CM and ask if he can suggest the best way to display synonym types in Amigo.
PJ mentioned someone at FAO for translation mechanism for about seven languages. Will contact him after this release.
JE is still waiting to hear from Yukiko about alterning Amigo file to display Japanese characters.
We should try to get Spanish and Japanese synonyms in this release, but not delay the release because of them.
Monocot and gymnosperm AToL meetings
PJ suggested that we should try to attend any upcoming monocot or gymnosperm AToL meetings, to see how they work, and how the PO could fit in with what they are doing.
DS will find out if they are meeting at the BSA conference this summer and/or at the IBC in Melbourne.
Maybe we could use one of their character matrices as a test case for how to describe plant phenotypes for systematics using PO.
Review for OBO Foundry Acceptance
BS brought up the topic of review for OBO Foundry acceptance at the POC_Conf._Call_4-19-11. He suggested that the PO can be submitted for OBO Foundry membership within the next weeks
List of Foundry Principles:[Accepted] with a brief summary of each:
The ontology must be open and available to be used by all without any constraint other than (a) its origin must be acknowledged and (b) it is not to be altered and subsequently redistributed under the original name or with the same identifiers.
The ontology is in, or can be expressed in, a common shared syntax. This may be either the OBO syntax, extensions of this syntax, or OWL.
The ontology possesses a unique identifier space within the OBO Foundry. The identifier uniquely and persistently identifies a definition, which itself unambiguous identifies some type of biological entity. The identifier is for the definition: it is NOT the name and it is NOT an identifier for the name.
The ontology provider has procedures for identifying distinct successive versions.
The ontology has a clearly specified and clearly delineated content. The ontology must be orthogonal to other ontologies already lodged within OBO.
The ontologies include textual definitions for all terms.
The ontology uses relations which are unambiguously defined following the pattern of definitions laid down in the OBO Relation Ontology.
The ontology is well documented.
The ontology has a plurality of independent users.
The ontology will be developed collaboratively with other OBO Foundry members.
single locus of authority, tracker (SOP), responsive help desk
OBO is an open community and, by joining the initiative, the authors of an ontology commit to its maintenance in light of scientific advance and to working with other members to ensure the improvement of these principles over time
Adjective form vs Noun form
Do we need to use the adjective form for some, e.g., antheridial wall versus antheridium wall? As is done in the literature?
Problem: We have not been consistent in using adjectives versus nouns and differentiae in names. PO is a mix of both. In some cases, we provide both (one as primary name, one as synonym).
As far as I can tell, OBO foundry naming conventions (http://www.obofoundry.org/wiki/index.php/Naming) don't offer any guidance in this matter.
The advantage of using adjectives is that they often seem more grammatically correct.
The advantage of using nouns is that if the differntia is another PO class, then the noun will match that class name (for example, antheridium wall automatically matches to the PO class antheridium).
If the term name is widely used in the literature, that provides a clue, but often, our term names are something we invented, and not widely used.
Barry and Chris, can you make any suggestions about this?
Upcoming meetings 2011:
Phenotype RCN Meeting: June 1-3rd, Boulder CO
Goals of the Plant Working Group at this meeting (from the Phenotype RCN webpage):
"Plants – Go through relevant parts of Plant Ontology in order to develop proofs of concept; explore how to make links to homology. Examine existing annotations and determine kinds of info can be extracted. Analyze quantitative data and look for ways to annotate them."
PJ will attend
More details TBA
2011 Semantic Web Workshop June 6th and 7th, Santa Fe, NM.
Hosted by Damian Gessler and the iPlant Collaborative, this two-day workshop will focus on biological applications for semantic web services.
-JE and JP will be attending
-JE has already worked with Damian to implement a SSWAP web service for PO terms, so further collaboration with him and iPlant will benefit the POC going forward.
For more Workshop details: Semantic web.
* ICBO 2011 Second International Conference on Biomedical Ontology
July 26-30, 2011
Buffalo, New York
LC is co-organizing the workshop "From Fins to Limbs to Leaves: Facilitating anatomy ontology interoperability" along with Melissa Haendel, Chris Mungall, Alan Ruttenberg, David Osumi-Sutherland.
Full-Day Workshops Schedule:
July 26 9am-6pm The Ontological Representation of Adverse Events: Working with Multiple Biomedical Ontologies
July 27 8.30am-4pm Facilitating Anatomy Ontology Interoperability
July 26 6.30pm-9pm Evening Workshop: Common Logic
July 27 4pm-8pm Evening Workshop: Doctoral and Post-Doctoral Consortium
- LC will attend and represent the PO. Invite other plant people?
*Plant Biology 2011, Aug 6-10th, Minneapolis, Minn
Early-bird registration ends May 13.
Gramene will be putting together a workshop again, focusing on pathways. PJ will present a PO poster.
TAIR (Kate Dreher) is organizing an Outreach Booth and we are invited to take part.
For inclusion on the program memory stick and in the program book, abstracts must be submitted by May 27.
* International Botanical Congress (IBC2011)
July 23rd-30th 2011, Melbourne, Australia
Registration is open Important dates
Symposium 'Bio-Ontologies for the Plant Sciences' under the Genetics, Genomics and Bioinformatics theme, wiil be held on Thursday, 27 July, from 13:30 to 15:30.
Dennis, Alejandra, Pankaj and Ramona are planning to attend.
Scott Schuette from the Department of Plant Biology at Southern Illinois University has been added as the sixth speaker in our symposium. He will speak on "Predicted Protein-Protein Interactions in the Moss Physcomitrella patens: A New Bioinformatic Resource".
See IBC 2011 Bio-Ontologies Symposium wiki page for more details
