Systems Biology Markup Language (SBML) Level 2: Structures and Facilities for Model Definitions

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Systems Biology Markup Language (SBML) Level 2: Structures and Facilities for Model Definitions

With the rise of Systems Biology as a new paradigm for understanding biological processes, the development of quantitative models is no longer restricted to a small circle of theoreticians. The dramatic increase in the number of these models precipitates the need to exchange and reuse both existing and newly created models. The Systems Biology Markup Language (SBML) is a free, open, XML-based format for representing quantitative models of biological interest that advocates the consistent specification of such models and thus facilitates both software development and model exchange.

Principally oriented towards describing systems of biochemical reactions, such as cell signalling pathways, metabolic networks and gene regulation etc., SBML can also be used to encode any kinetic model. SBML offers mechanisms to describe biological components by means of compartments and reacting species, as well as their dynamic behaviour, using reactions, events and arbitrary mathematical rules. SBML also offers all the housekeeping structures needed to ensure an unambiguous understanding of quantitative descriptions.

This is Release 1 of the specification for SBML Level 2 Version 4, describing the structures of the language and the rules used to build a valid model. SBML XML Schema and other related documents and software are also available from the SBML project web site, "http://sbml.org/":http://sbml.org/

SBML Level 3 Package Specification: Hierarchical Model Composition

In the context of SBML, “hierarchical model composition” refers to the ability to include models as submodels inside another model. The goal is to support the ability of modelers and software tools to do such things as (1) decompose larger models into smaller ones, as a way to manage complexity; (2) incorporate multiple instances of a given model within one or more enclosing models, to avoid literal duplication of repeated elements; and (3) create libraries of reusable, tested models, much as is done in software development and other engineering fields. SBML Level 3 Version 1 Core (Hucka et al., 2010), by itself, has no direct support for allowing a model to include other models as submodels. Software tools either have to implement their own schemes outside of SBML, or (in principle) could use annotations to augment a plain SBML Level 3 model with the necessary information to allow a software tool to compose a model out of submodels. However, such solutions would be proprietary and tool-specific, and not conducive to interoperability. There is a clear need for an official SBML language facility for hierarchical model composition. This document describes a specification for an SBML Level 3 package that provides exactly such a facility

Systems Biology Markup Language (SBML): Language Specification for Level 3 Version 2 Core Release 2

Computational models can help researchers to interpret data, understand biological functions, and make quantitative predictions. The Systems Biology Markup Language (SBML) is a file format for representing computational models in a declarative form that different software systems can exchange. SBML is oriented towards describing biological processes of the sort common in research on a number of topics, including metabolic pathways, cell signaling pathways, and many others. By supporting SBML as an input/output format, different tools can all operate on an identical representation of a model, removing opportunities for translation errors and assuring a common starting point for analyses and simulations. This document provides the specification for Release 2 of Version 2 of SBML Level 3 Core. The specification defines the data structures prescribed by SBML as well as their encoding in XML, the eXtensible Markup Language. Release 2 corrects some errors and clarifies some ambiguities discovered in Release 1. This specification also defines validation rules that determine the validity of an SBML document, and provides many examples of models in SBML form. Other materials and software are available from the SBML project website at http://sbml.org/

Computational strategies to combat COVID-19: useful tools to accelerate SARS-CoV-2 and coronavirus research

SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) is a novel virus of the family Coronaviridae. The virus causesthe infectious disease COVID-19. The biology of coronaviruses has been studied for many years. However, bioinformaticstools designed explicitly for SARS-CoV-2 have only recently been developed as a rapid reaction to the need for fast detection,understanding and treatment of COVID-19. To control the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it is of utmost importance to getinsight into the evolution and pathogenesis of the virus. In this review, we cover bioinformatics workflows and tools for theroutine detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection, the reliable analysis of sequencing data, the tracking of the COVID-19 pandemicand evaluation of containment measures, the study of coronavirus evolution, the discovery of potential drug targets anddevelopment of therapeutic strategies. For each tool, we briefly describe its use case and how it advances researchspecifically for SARS-CoV-2.Fil: Hufsky, Franziska. Friedrich Schiller University Jena; AlemaniaFil: Lamkiewicz, Kevin. Friedrich Schiller University Jena; AlemaniaFil: Almeida, Alexandre. the Wellcome Sanger Institute; Reino UnidoFil: Aouacheria, Abdel. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; FranciaFil: Arighi, Cecilia. Biocuration and Literature Access at PIR; Estados UnidosFil: Bateman, Alex. European Bioinformatics Institute. Head of Protein Sequence Resources; Reino UnidoFil: Baumbach, Jan. Universitat Technical Zu Munich; AlemaniaFil: Beerenwinkel, Niko. Universitat Technical Zu Munich; AlemaniaFil: Brandt, Christian. Jena University Hospital; AlemaniaFil: Cacciabue, Marco Polo Domingo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación En Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Chuguransky, Sara Rocío. European Bioinformatics Institute; Reino Unido. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Drechsel, Oliver. Robert Koch-Institute; AlemaniaFil: Finn, Robert D.. Biocurator for Pfam and InterPro databases; Reino UnidoFil: Fritz, Adrian. Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research; AlemaniaFil: Fuchs, Stephan. Robert Koch-Institute; AlemaniaFil: Hattab, Georges. University Marburg; AlemaniaFil: Hauschild, Anne Christin. University Marburg; AlemaniaFil: Heider, Dominik. University Marburg; AlemaniaFil: Hoffmann, Marie. Freie Universität Berlin; AlemaniaFil: Hölzer, Martin. Friedrich Schiller University Jena; AlemaniaFil: Hoops, Stefan. University of Virginia; Estados UnidosFil: Kaderali, Lars. University Medicine Greifswald; AlemaniaFil: Kalvari, Ioanna. European Bioinformatics Institute; Reino UnidoFil: von Kleist, Max. Robert Koch-Institute; AlemaniaFil: Kmiecinski, Renó. Robert Koch-Institute; AlemaniaFil: Kühnert, Denise. Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History; AlemaniaFil: Lasso, Gorka. Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Libin, Pieter. Hasselt University; BélgicaFil: List, Markus. Universitat Technical Zu Munich; AlemaniaFil: Löchel, Hannah F.. University Marburg; Alemani

The Mother Centriole Plays an Instructive Role in Defining Cell Geometry

Centriole positioning is a key step in establishment and propagation of cell geometry, but the mechanism of this positioning is unknown. The ability of pre-existing centrioles to induce formation of new centrioles at a defined angle relative to themselves suggests they may have the capacity to transmit spatial information to their daughters. Using three-dimensional computer-aided analysis of cell morphology in Chlamydomonas, we identify six genes required for centriole positioning relative to overall cell polarity, four of which have known sequences. We show that the distal portion of the centriole is critical for positioning, and that the centriole positions the nucleus rather than vice versa. We obtain evidence that the daughter centriole is unable to respond to normal positioning cues and relies on the mother for positional information. Our results represent a clear example of “cytotaxis” as defined by Sonneborn, and suggest that centrioles can play a key function in propagation of cellular geometry from one generation to the next. The genes documented here that are required for proper centriole positioning may represent a new class of ciliary disease genes, defects in which would be expected to cause disorganized ciliary position and impaired function