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The Australian Reference Genome Atlas (ARGA) is an indexing service for aggregating, discovering, filtering and accessing complex life science data. ARGA is an NCRIS-enabled platform powered by the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), in collaboration with Bioplatforms Australia and the Australian BioCommons, with investment from the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC).

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Project Summary

For plants, animals, microbiota and other species endemic or relevant to Australia, the Australian Reference Genome Atlas (ARGA) locates and aggregates genomic data, including:

  • reference genome assemblies
  • genome annotations
  • population and variant sets
  • DNA barcodes
  • coding and non-coding DNA sequences
  • raw genomics data

At this time, ARGA is focused on indexing genetics and genomics data types from a range of publicly available data sources. Into the future, ARGA looks to incorporate other ‘omics data sources, including metabolomics, transcriptomics and microbiomes.

DISCOVER

Discover

data from reputed and comprehensive sources

SEARCH

Search

using purpose-built filters for ecotype and phenotype

ASSEMBLE

Curate

custom datasets tailored for applied questions

EXPORT

Export

seamlessly to bioinformatics platforms for analysis

ARGA utilises the existing research infrastructure capabilities of the Atlas of Living Australia, incorporating contextual metadata, such as taxonomic descriptors, species occurrence records, and ecotype layering to enable researchers to filter and search the indexed genomics data.

ARGA is building new functional group filtering capabilities, which provide researchers with the flexibility to browse records based on biochemical or phenomic characteristics derived by biological research communities. Data are also integrated with phenotypic and morphological trait data for key taxonomic groups, enabling the assembly of reconciled datasets and the evaluation of species throughout time and space. Compiled datasets can be packaged and transported to online analysis environments such as Galaxy Australia for analysis using inbuilt semi-automated and automated pipelines, or custom user-defined analyses.

Project Timeline

ARGA will be purpose-built for researchers and end-users. The timeline from project initiation to the full release of a fit-for-purpose and fully-searchable data portal is planned to take approximately two (2) years.

We are engaging the life sciences community and other data end-users to understand how they currently find and obtain genomics data from online sources. This understanding will inform how we build ARGA. At the completion of the ARGA project phase, we anticipate that our sustainable platform will emerge as an authoritative, reputed, FAIR and trusted service for Australian researchers to discover, filter, interrogate and access complex life science data.

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Joint Statement

The Australian Reference Genome Atlas (ARGA) is an NCRIS-enabled platform powered by the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), in collaboration with Bioplatforms Australia and the Australian BioCommons, with investment from the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) (https://doi.org/10.47486/DC011). ARGA integrates data sourced from a number of international repositories, including NCBI GenBank, EMBL-ENA and Bioplatforms Australia.

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Acknowledging ARGA

Please use the following statement when publishing your research:

Quote

This research was supported by the use of the Australian Reference Genome Atlas (ARGA), an NCRIS-enabled platform powered by the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), in collaboration with Bioplatforms Australia and the Australian BioCommons, and supported by the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC).

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Partners and Funders

Partners

Ala

The Atlas of Living Australia is Australia’s national biodiversity data infrastructure. It is made possible by contributions from its partners, is enabled by NCRIS, is hosted by CSIRO, and is the Australian node of GBIF.

Ba

Bioplatforms Australia is a non-profit organisation that supports Australian life science research by investing in genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and bioinformatics infrastructure and expertise. It is enabled by NCRIS.

Abc

The Australian BioCommons provides a collaborative and distributed digital infrastructure and service capability for bioinformatics and bioscience research at a national scale. It is enabled by NCRIS via Bioplatforms Australia funding.

Funders

Ardc

The ARDC facilitates partnerships to develop a coherent research environment that enables researchers to find, access, contribute to and effectively use services to maximise research quality and impact. The Australian Reference Genome Atlas project received investment (https://doi.org/10.47486/DC011) from the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC). The ARDC is funded by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).

Ncris

The Australian Government helps maintain Australia’s reputation as a global leader in world-class research by ensuring researchers have access to cutting-edge national research infrastructure supported through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) program.  ARGA is enabled by NCRIS through the Atlas of Living Australia, Bioplatforms Australia and the Australian Research Data Commons.