2.1.2 TOdb

MetaQTL can also used a trait ontology in order to group the QTL in trait categories which refer to the same genetic determinism. The ontology representation handles by MetaQTL is based on a simple hierarchy (such as in taxonomy) where each child has a uniq parent. The table which stores the trait ontology is defined by the following fields:

• Term_id(integer): the uniq identifier of the term.
• Term_name(string): the name of the term, i.e the trait name.
• Parent_id(integer): the identifier of the uniq parent of this term (required except for the root of the ontology).
• Synonyms(string): the synonyms of the trait name separated by a coma (then the synonyms must not contain any coma).
• Definition(string): the definition of the trait.

Term_id Term_name Parent_id Synonyms Definition 1 my_ontology 2 yield 1 3 dry_grain_yield_ear 2 4 dry_grain_yield 2 5 grain_yield 2 6 kernel_weight_per_ear 2