BIPAA, Bioinformatics Platform for the Agroecosystems Arthropods.
Abstract
BIPAA (BioInformatics Platform for the Agroecosystems Arthopods) (https://bipaa.genouest.org) is a bioinformatics platform from the French National Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE). It is located in Rennes (France) and is integrated in the GenOuest infrastructure (https://www.genouest.org). It is dedicated to assist genomics and post-genomics programs developed on insects associated to agroecosystems. More than seven hundred users are currently listed on BIPAA.
#Data analysis. BIPAA is supporting a network of scientists from various french labs for analyzing their genomics data. Depending on the needs, it implies the personal guidance for developping scripts, running complex workflows on a computing cluster or on Galaxy servers. We collaborate with many biology labs for computing and analyzing heterogeneous data covering many bioinformatics topics such as genome assembly and annotation, expression analysis, non-coding RNA characterization, genomes comparison, variant identification, or genomics and epigenomics data integration.
#Databases. BIPAA is the home of several public reference databases hosting multiple insect genomes: AphidBase (for aphids), LepidoDB (for lepidopterans) and ParWaspDB (for parasitoïd wasps). 41 genomes are currently available online. For each genome, a collection of web applications allows to explore reference genome or transcriptome assemblies and annotations (e.g. genome browser, gene reports), to analyze this data (e.g. dedicated Galaxy server, specific web applications), and to collect new scientific knowledge (e.g. manual curation of annotations using Apollo).
#Collaborations. Often in collaboration with the GenScale and Dyliss teams in INRIA/Irisa in Rennes (France), BIPAA is engaged in various research programs involving bioinformatics skills. For example, an user-friendly web application for integrating and querying heterogeneous data (AskOmics) or a tool for long non-coding RNA annotation (FEELnc) were developped in this context. BIPAA is also associated with 3 national networks of INRAE : BAPOA (Biologie Adaptative des Pucerons et Organismes Associés), ADALEP (Adaptation à l’environnement biotique chez les lépidoptères) and REacTION (Réseau d'échange sur les mécanismes Épigénétiques qui façonnent les interacTIONs) networks. It is also involved in international consortia or various insect genome sequencing projects like i5k, an initiative to sequence the genomes of 5000 arthropods or ERGA (European Reference Genome Atlas) project.
#Trainings. Moreover, frequent training sessions in partnership are organized with the GenOuest bioinformatics platform or the BARIC (Bioinformatique pour l’Analyse, la Représentation et Intégration de Connaissances) community of INRAE.