Ensembl Genomes (http://www.ensemblgenomes.org) is an integrating resource for genome-scale data from non-vertebrate species, complementing the resources for vertebrate genomics developed in the context of the Ensembl project (http://www.ensembl.org). Together, the two resources provide a consistent set of programmatic and interactive interfaces to a rich range of data including reference sequence, gene models, transcriptional data, genetic variation and comparative analysis. This paper provides an update to the previous publications about the resource, with a focus on recent developments. These include the development of new analyses and views to represent polyploid genomes (of which bread wheat is the primary exemplar); and the continued up-scaling of the resource, which now includes over 23 000 bacterial genomes, 400 fungal genomes and 100 protist genomes, in addition to 55 genomes from invertebrate metazoa and 39 genomes from plants. This dramatic increase in the number of included genomes is one part of a broader effort to automate the integration of archival data (genome sequence, but also associated RNA sequence data and variant calls) within the context of reference genomes and make it available through the Ensembl user interfaces.

Barley has one of the largest and most complex genomes of all economically important food crops. The rise of new short read sequencing technologies such as Illumina/Solexa permits such large genomes to be effectively sampled at relatively low cost. Based on the corresponding sequence reads a Mathematically Defined Repeat (MDR) index can be generated to map repetitive regions in genomic sequences.

Ensembl Genomes (http://www.ensemblgenomes.org) is an integrating resource for genome-scale data from non-vertebrate species, complementing the resources for vertebrate genomics developed in the context of the Ensembl project (http://www.ensembl.org). Together, the two resources provide a consistent set of interfaces to genomic data across the tree of life, including reference genome sequence, gene models, transcriptional data, genetic variation and comparative analysis. Data may be accessed via our website, online tools platform and programmatic interfaces, with updates made four times per year (in synchrony with Ensembl). Here, we provide an overview of Ensembl Genomes, with a focus on recent developments. These include the continued growth, more robust and reproducible sets of orthologues and paralogues, and enriched views of gene expression and gene function in plants. Finally, we report on our continued deeper integration with the Ensembl project, which forms a key part of our future strategy for dealing with the increasing quantity of available genome-scale data across the tree of life.

With the completion of the genome sequence for rice (Oryza sativa L.), the focus of rice genomics research has shifted to the comparison of the rice genome with genomes of other species for gene cloning, breeding, and evolutionary studies. The genus Oryza includes 23 species that shared a common ancestor 8-10 million years ago making this an ideal model for investigations into the processes underlying domestication, as many of the Oryza species are still undergoing domestication. This study integrates high-throughput, hybridization-based markers with BAC end sequence and fingerprint data to construct physical maps of rice chromosome 1 orthologues in two wild Oryza species. Similar studies were undertaken in Sorghum bicolor, a species which diverged from cultivated rice 40-50 million years ago.

Gramene (http://www.gramene.org) is a curated online resource for comparative functional genomics in crops and model plant species, currently hosting 27 fully and 10 partially sequenced reference genomes in its build number 38. Its strength derives from the application of a phylogenetic framework for genome comparison and the use of ontologies to integrate structural and functional annotation data. Whole-genome alignments complemented by phylogenetic gene family trees help infer syntenic and orthologous relationships. Genetic variation data, sequences and genome mappings available for 10 species, including Arabidopsis, rice and maize, help infer putative variant effects on genes and transcripts. The pathways section also hosts 10 species-specific metabolic pathways databases developed in-house or by our collaborators using Pathway Tools software, which facilitates searches for pathway, reaction and metabolite annotations, and allows analyses of user-defined expression datasets. Recently, we released a Plant Reactome portal featuring 133 curated rice pathways. This portal will be expanded for Arabidopsis, maize and other plant species. We continue to provide genetic and QTL maps and marker datasets developed by crop researchers. The project provides a unique community platform to support scientific research in plant genomics including studies in evolution, genetics, plant breeding, molecular biology, biochemistry and systems biology.

Ensembl Genomes (http://www.ensemblgenomes.org) is an integrating resource for genome-scale data from non-vertebrate species. The project exploits and extends technologies for genome annotation, analysis and dissemination, developed in the context of the vertebrate-focused Ensembl project, and provides a complementary set of resources for non-vertebrate species through a consistent set of programmatic and interactive interfaces. These provide access to data including reference sequence, gene models, transcriptional data, polymorphisms and comparative analysis. This article provides an update to the previous publications about the resource, with a focus on recent developments. These include the addition of important new genomes (and related data sets) including crop plants, vectors of human disease and eukaryotic pathogens. In addition, the resource has scaled up its representation of bacterial genomes, and now includes the genomes of over 9000 bacteria. Specific extensions to the web and programmatic interfaces have been developed to support users in navigating these large data sets. Looking forward, analytic tools to allow targeted selection of data for visualization and download are likely to become increasingly important in future as the number of available genomes increases within all domains of life, and some of the challenges faced in representing bacterial data are likely to become commonplace for eukaryotes in future.

Gramene (http://www.gramene.org) is an online resource for comparative functional genomics in crops and model plant species. Its two main frameworks are genomes (collaboration with Ensembl Plants) and pathways (The Plant Reactome and archival BioCyc databases). Since our last NAR update, the database website adopted a new Drupal management platform. The genomes section features 39 fully assembled reference genomes that are integrated using ontology-based annotation and comparative analyses, and accessed through both visual and programmatic interfaces. Additional community data, such as genetic variation, expression and methylation, are also mapped for a subset of genomes. The Plant Reactome pathway portal (http://plantreactome.gramene.org) provides a reference resource for analyzing plant metabolic and regulatory pathways. In addition to ∼ 200 curated rice reference pathways, the portal hosts gene homology-based pathway projections for 33 plant species. Both the genome and pathway browsers interface with the EMBL-EBI's Expression Atlas to enable the projection of baseline and differential expression data from curated expression studies in plants. Gramene's archive website (http://archive.gramene.org) continues to provide previously reported resources on comparative maps, markers and QTL. To further aid our users, we have also introduced a live monthly educational webinar series and a Gramene YouTube channel carrying video tutorials.

Ensembl Genomes (http://www.ensemblgenomes.org) is an integrating resource for genome-scale data from non-vertebrate species, complementing the resources for vertebrate genomics developed in the Ensembl project (http://www.ensembl.org). Together, the two resources provide a consistent set of programmatic and interactive interfaces to a rich range of data including genome sequence, gene models, transcript sequence, genetic variation, and comparative analysis. This paper provides an update to the previous publications about the resource, with a focus on recent developments and expansions. These include the incorporation of almost 20 000 additional genome sequences and over 35 000 tracks of RNA-Seq data, which have been aligned to genomic sequence and made available for visualization. Other advances since 2015 include the release of the database in Resource Description Framework (RDF) format, a large increase in community-derived curation, a new high-performance protein sequence search, additional cross-references, improved annotation of non-protein-coding genes, and the launch of pre-release and archival sites. Collectively, these changes are part of a continuing response to the increasing quantity of publicly-available genome-scale data, and the consequent need to archive, integrate, annotate and disseminate these using automated, scalable methods.

Understanding the relationships between physical fitness attributes and sport-specific technical skills may assist with the establishment of beneficial training interventions. The aim of this systematic review was to determine if physical fitness qualities were associated with performance of sport-specific technical skills in female, team-based ball players.

To assess whether incorporating a machine learning (ML) method for accurate prediction of postoperative anterior chamber depth (ACD) improves the refraction prediction performance of existing intraocular lens (IOL) calculation formulas.