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Aug 13, 2010<br>
<br>
A beta version of the latest release of the PO is now available on our
AmiGO Browser ( <a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://beta.plantontology.org:8080/amigo/go.cgi">http://beta.plantontology.org:8080/amigo/go.cgi</a>).
<br>
<big><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2"><big><br>
The primary structure of the PO, including one branch for
</big></font></font></big><big><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font
size="2"><big>Plant Structure Ontology </big></font></font></big><big><font
face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2"><big>(PSO) and one branch for </big></font></font></big><big><font
face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2"><big>Plant Growth and
Developmental Stage Ontology (PGDSO),</big></font></font></big><big><font
face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2"><big>
has not changed. </big></font></font></big><br>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><big><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font
size="2"><big>The
main goal of this round of revisions was to create a framework that
could accept new terms from all plants, </big></font></font></big><big><font
face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2"><big>with the focus on the </big></font></font></big><big><font
face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2"><big>re-organization
of the PSO</big></font></font></big><big><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font
size="2"><big> and minor changes (</big></font></font></big><big><font
face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2"><big>addition of only three
new high-level terms)</big></font></font></big><big><font
face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2"><big> to the PGDSO. <br>
</big></font></font></big></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><big><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font
size="2"><big>In the PSO, new top-level terms were
added, new definitions were written for many terms (including all
top-level terms), and the second an third levels of the ontology were
extensively re-organized. An effort was made to insure that widely
studied plant structures such as flower, stem, and gamete had working
definitions and correct parentage. <br>
</big></font></font></big></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><big><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font
size="2"><big>Detailed revisions, including the
addition of many new terms, were made to the PSO term tuber
(PO:0004543) and its <i>is_a</i> and <i>part_of</i> children. This
provided a test
case for how to build relationships among the parts of a complex
structure while at the same time providing much needed terms for
annotation of potato genes. Throughout the revision process, the
curators worked to incorporate new advances in ontology design and
construction. These included the use of logical text and relational
definitions and references to external ontologies where appropriate.</big></font></font></big></p>
<br>
<big><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2"><big>Although this
release contains only a few
new terms that are specific to taxa outside angiosperms, the new
structure will enable us to incorporate these terms in future
releases.</big></font></font></big><br>
<br>
The POC is seeking feedback on the beta release. <br>
Please use the Feedback Link:(
<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://beta.plantontology.org:8080/db/feedback/send_feedback">http://beta.plantontology.org:8080/db/feedback/send_feedback</a>)
or
contact
us at <a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:po-dev@plantontology.org">po-dev@plantontology.org</a>.<br>
<br>
For more information about the release, please visit our wikipage with
a Summary of Changes
(<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://wiki.plantontology.org:8080/index.php/Summary_of_changes_to_the_Plant_Ontology">http://wiki.plantontology.org:8080/index.php/Summary_of_changes_to_the_Plant_Ontology</a>)<br>
<br>
Thank you in advance for your interest and feedback<br>
Sincerely, the Plant Ontology Consortium<br>
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<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
**********************************************************
Laurel (Lol) Cooper, PhD
Coordinator, Plant Ontology Consortium
Dept. of Botany and Plant Pathology
Rm 3086, Cordley Hall
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR 97331
Web: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.plantontology.org">www.plantontology.org</a>
Phone: 541-737-5272
Fax: 541-737-3573
***********************************************************
</pre>
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