Hi everyone,

As scheduled, we are releasing each quarter a MGIS web site which includes new features and data updates. This time the highlight is an accession filter using morpho-taxonomic descriptors. More details can be found here.

Data update

• Accession subsets for the two new MusaNet evaluation protocols for Black Leaf Streak and Fusarium wilt recorded as phenotyping studies with a set of reference accessions.
• New published datasets SNP markers dataset in the GIGWA module corresponding to the following studies:
  • RADseq-ABB: Unraveling the complex story of intergenomic recombination in ABB allotriploid bananas
  • A-B recombinations: Recombination and large structural variations shape interspecific edible bananas genomes
  • Genome mosaics: Genome ancestry mosaics reveal multiple and cryptic contributors to cultivated banana
  • GWAS bunch weight: Association genetics of bunch weight and its component traits in East African highland banana (Musa spp. AAA group)
• Other new publications associated to individual accessions.
  • Badnaviruses and banana genomes: a long association sheds light on Musa phylogeny and origin
  • Chromosome Painting in Cultivated Bananas and Their Wild Relatives (Musa spp.) Reveals Differences in Chromosome Structure

Tool update

Descriptors Graphical Interface Selection (DGIS)

We received a lot of data from a few collections and we spent time thinking how best to search for these values in a user-friendly manner. At least in a way that you do not have to be an expert on characterization-specific terms. This is where Valentin came in with an interactive graphical solution that allows anyone to start from one part of the anatomy of the Musa plant and dive into more detailed descriptors. 

Now you will see a new orange button in the list of filters available on the accession page. By clicking on this button   a floating image will appear on top of the webpage displaying a drawing of a Musa plant, inspired from the Descriptors for Banana booklet. This image is clickable - by moving the mouse over the drawing a new detailed drawing will popup to display more specific parts of the Musa plant.

Here is an example of the DGIS interfaces:

Once you click on an element of the plant you will have access to the corresponding descriptors and from this list you can select the value of interest to you. The number between brackets after a value denote the number of accessions for which the value was observed.

Click on a value and the accessions list will be filtered accordingly.

It is possible to perform inclusive/exclusive queries. To do so, on the top left of the drawing you will see two options: one (must match) to include in your results a specific value for descriptors and the other (must not match)  to exclude accessions with specific value for descriptors. 

We hope that this approach meets your expectations to look for accessions with or without specific descriptor values. We have also updated some ITC accessions with some agronomic values such as bunch weight, number of fruits, fruits length and few more from the chapter 7 of the Descriptors for Banana. They are accessible by clicking on the 7. Plant descriptors text at the top right of the drawing.

MGIS web site in 2021

We plan to release a new version of MGIS web site in 2021 mainly to address the slow response time of the website. The growing number of data we are storing has an impact on the performance of the background database and we understand that this is undermining the experience you have with MGIS. In addition to this problem we also want to make the website mobile friendly in order to make accessiblethe huge amount of data straight from your pocket.This one will be challenging. 

As usual we are open to any feedback to help improve MGIS. We are in charge of the database but it is you, the data providers and scientists, who are the end users.

Lastly, the MGIS team would like to wish you a relaxing and happy end of this challenging 2020 year. 

The MGIS team