2017 ASHS Annual Conference

The Hardwood Genomics Databases (HWG) provides access to genetic and genomic data from ecologically and phylogenetically important angiosperm tree species. The site is built with the Tripal1 software system, an open-source platform that bridges Drupal, a popular content management system (CMS), and Chado2, a standardized relational database for storage of biological data. Using Tripal and additional tools such as JBrowse3 and BLAST, HWG provides interfaces to reference genomes from 4 species, reference transcriptomes from 15 species, and low coverage whole genome sequence data from 10 species. One of the major advantages to Tripal is the ability to extend the core software by developing extension modules to handle new data types and provide access to new tools. The HWG development team has taken advantage of this flexibility to build new modules for our users to search, download, and visualize tree data. We recently released Tripal ElasticSearch, a module that uses the open access ElasticSearch4 search engine to provide powerful, full text search for any Tripal site. We have also developed and released the new Tripal Expression Analysis module to enable users to explore a RNASeq-based gene expression experiment, from biological samples, to lab methods and analysis of data, to gene expression levels. The HWG is a excellent use case for the Tripal software system that demonstrates the various levels of utility of the software. We were able to leverage the core modules “out of the box,” to continue adding content by taking advantage of extension modules provided by other developer groups, and finally, to build and make public our own new extension modules for unique needs and new data types.