Overview
MPA (Mycobacteriaceae Phenome Atlas) is a Mycobacteriaceae
phenome database, which integrates the phenomic data of Mycobacteriaceae strains by
literature mining, third-party database integration, and bioinformatics annotation. The
phenotypes of Mycobacteriaceae are inferred from available phenomic data, and 82 microbial
phenotypic traits were recruited as data elements of the microbial phenome, containing 5
categories and 20 subcategories of polyphasic phenotypes, and 3 categories and 8 subcategories
of functional phenotypes, all of which are complementary to the existing data standards of
microbial phenotypes. The phenotypes were searchable and comparable from the website of
MPA. A network analysis of MPA topological data revealed the co-evolution between
Mycobacterium tuberculosis and some important phenotypes, such as virulence factors,
and also uncovered potential pathogenicity-associated phenotypes. The application of
MPA may provide novel insights into the pathogenicity mechanism of Mycobacteriaceae.