Searching in HymenopteraMine

There are several ways that users may query HymenopteraMine.

Templates

Another method of searching HymenopteraMine is through the use of templates (predefined queries). Popular templates are displayed on the home page, grouped by category (Genes, Protein, Homology, etc.) The full list of templates may be viewed by clicking the Templates menu tab.

Popular templates on the home page

Popular templates

Full list of templates

List of templates on the Templates page

As an example, the GO Term –> Gene template queries HymenopteraMine for all genes having a given GO term.

GO Term --> Gene template

Example: GO Term –> Gene template

The results page shows all the genes having the Gene Ontology term “DNA Binding” in their annotation. When logged in, users may create a new list or add these genes to an existing list to perform further analyses. Click on the Save as List button above the table of results, then choose the column to add to the list. See the Lists section for more details on creating and saving lists.

GO Term --> Gene template results for identifier "GO:0003677"

Example: Results after searching on GO:0003677 (identifier for GO term “DNA binding”)

Generate query code

The code for each query may be obtained by clicking on the arrow next to Generate Python Code and choosing the desired language from the pull-down menu. The language options are Python, Perl, Java, Ruby, JavaScript, and XML.

Generate code pull-down menu

Generate code options

Download results

The search results may also be downloaded by clicking the Export button above the table and choosing the desired format from the pull-down menu to the right of the File name field (blue box in the figure below). Available formats are tab-separated values, comma-separated values, XML, and JSON. When the results contain genomic features, they may also be downloaded in FASTA, GFF3, or BED format. Other options may be specified in the submenu to the left of the download box (orange box in the figure below). By default, all rows and all columns are downloaded, but individual columns may be included or excluded by clicking on the toggles next to the column headers in the All Columns submenu. The number of rows and row offset are set in the All Rows submenu. Download the results as a compressed file by choosing GZIP or ZIP format in the Compression submenu (default is No Compression). Column headers are not added by default but may be included under the Column Headers submenu. Finally, the Preview submenu displays the first three rows of the file to be downloaded so that the desired format and options may be finalized before beginning the download. When ready, click the Download file button to download the results.

Options for results file download

Download results options

Customize output

Click the Manage Columns button to customize the results table layout. Edit or remove active filters by clicking the Manage Filters button. Click Manage Relationships to specify the entity relationships within the query.

Optional filters

Some templates have optional filters that are disabled by default. For example, the GO Term –> Gene template has an additional filter for specifying a GO evidence code. To enable this filter, click ON below GO Evidence Code > Code.

GO Term --> Gene template with GO evidence code filter enabled

Example: GO Term –> Gene template with GO evidence code filter enabled

QueryBuilder

While the templates provided are suitable for many different types of searches, new queries may be built from scratch using the QueryBuilder. The possibilities of queries using the QueryBuilder are endless. The output may be formatted exactly as desired, and the query constraints may be chosen to perform complex search operations.

QueryBuilder

To begin, select a Data Type. For example, select Gene as a Data Type and click the Select button.

Gene data type selected in QueryBuilder

Example: Gene data type selected in QueryBuilder

Model browser

After choosing a data type, the Model browser appears displaying the attributes for the selected feature class.

Model browser

Model browser with Gene selected as data type

Using the model browser, fields and constraints may be added to the query. Clicking Show to the right of an attribute will add that field to the query. Clicking Constrain brings up a window with filter options for the attribute selected. The Query Overview summarizes the current state of the query; it displays the currently selected fields and constraint logic. The results columns are displayed at the bottom of the page, where they may be rearranged or removed.

Examples

The following examples give a more in-depth demonstration on how to use the QueryBuilder. All examples use Gene as the selected data type.

Example 1: Querying for protein coding genes

In the Model browser, click Show next to DB Identifier and Symbol, which will add these fields to the query. Notice that these two fields appear below Gene in the Query Overview section.

Step 1: select fields to be added to the query

Step 1: Select fields to be added to the query

Then click Constrain next to Biotype. The first drop-down menu defaults to = (equals sign). In the second drop-down menu, select Protein Coding, then click the Add to query button. This adds a constraint to the query to search only for protein coding genes. Notice that the Query Overview section now shows “Biotype = Protein Coding”. Also, two types of icons appear next to the attributes. Clicking on the red “X” icon next to an attribute will remove that field or constraint from the query. Clicking on the blue pencil icon next to a constraint brings up the constraint editing window from earlier where changes may be made to the query filters.

Step 2: Add a constraint to the query on Biotype

Step 2: Add a constraint to the query on Biotype

Finally, click on the Show results button above the Model browser. The resulting table contains all protein coding genes in the database, with DB Identifier and Gene Symbol as the two table columns.

Step 3: Display query results

Step 3: Display query results

Example 2: Querying for protein coding genes on a particular chromosome

This example will extend the first example to add another constraint to the query.

Begin as in the above example by selecting Gene as the data type, adding DB Identifier and Symbol as fields, and adding the constraint that Biotype is “Protein Coding”. In the Model browser, click the + (plus sign) next to the Chromosome feature class to display its attributes.

Step 1: View attributes of the Chromosome feature class

Step 1: View attributes of the Chromosome feature class

Then click Constrain next to the attribute DB Identifier. In the pop-up window, enter NW_003791143.1 into the text field, and click Add to query. This adds an additional constraint to the query that searches for protein coding genes on a chromosome with the DB identifier NW_003791143.1.

Step 2: Add a constraint to the Chromosome DB Identifier

Step 2: Add a constraint to the Chromosome DB Identifier

Click the Show results button as before to view the results of the query. The columns are the same as in the first example, but notice that now there are only 638 rows in the table (compared to over 500,000 in the first query) due to the additional constraint.

Step 3: Display query results

Step 3: Display query results

Example 3: Querying for protein coding genes on a particular chromosome and their exons

This final example extends the above query to display all exons for each protein coding gene.

As above, select Gene as the data type, add DB Identifier and Symbol (under Gene) as fields, and constrain the query to protein coding genes on a chromosome with the DB Identifier NW_003791143.1.

In the Model browser, scroll down to locate the Exon feature class, and click the + (plus sign) next to Exons to display its attributes. Click Show next to DB Identifier and Length.

Step 1: Select Exon fields to be added to the query

Step 1: Select Exon fields to be added to the query

The Query Overview shows the query in progress, with four fields and two constraints. Also notice that a third type of icon, a blue square, appears next to a couple of the attributes. Clicking on a blue square icon next to an attribute brings up a window where the query Join Style may be modified. Click on the blue square icon next to Exon collection to bring up the Switch Join Style window. The default option is Show only Genes if they have a Exon. Change this to Show all Genes and show Exons if they are present and click Add to query.

Step 2: Change the join style

Step 2: Change the join style

Click Show results to run the query.

Step 3: Display query results

Step 3: Display query results

Notice that the results table contains the same rows as in the second example, but now there is a new column, Gene Exons. For example, looking at the second row, the Gene with DB Identifier 100862997 has 12 exons. Click on the 12 exons text to expand the table with additional rows containing the DB identifier and Length for each of the 12 exons.

Step 4: Expand information on exons

Step 4: Expand information on exons

By changing the join style, the exons have been grouped together by gene, making it easier to see how many exons each gene has. By contrast, if the query is run with the default option of “Show only Genes if they have a Exon”, the results table adds a new row for each exon.

Same query with default join style for exons

Same query with default join style for exons