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Searching trait data

Since 2018, Genesys has provided access to characterization and evaluation datasets from various genebanks for download and analysis by users. You can also search these datasets for specific traits within Genesys. That's obviously more powerful than just searching passport data.

If you see this green banner associated with a dataset, click it to open the searchable dataset.

Searchable datasets interface showing filter options and trait data grid

Searchable datasets​

Searchable datasets follow the familiar Genesys layout: the filtering options are listed on the left, and the main display area is used to show trait data that match the specified filters. The data are initially not filtered and the grid allows you to browse through the entire dataset.

Observations tab​

The Observations tab displays trait data in a grid, one row per accession.

Observations tab showing trait data in a grid format

The first column (My List) indicates whether the accession is already in your list of selected accessions. Tick the checkbox to add it, and untick the checkbox to remove it from My List.

The Accession column displays the accession number with a link to its passport data.

You can retrieve the data in Excel format by clicking the Download button in the bottom-right corner of the grid:

Grid detail showing accession information and selection checkboxes

The gear icon on the right edge of the grid header allows you to toggle the visibility of columns and adjust their display: wrap text, apply heavier font weight, and adjust text alignment. You can close the grid settings by clicking or tapping on the Save icon.

Grid settings panel for adjusting column visibility and display options

Filtering by traits​

Crop descriptors document how the observations were recorded. The filtering options depend on the type of descriptor.

Coded descriptors​

The most common type of descriptor in characterization data is coded. These are used to capture categorical data and the documentation explains what each code means.

Coded descriptor filter showing categorical options

Numerical descriptors​

Exact measurements (e.g., counts, lengths, widths, etc.) are recorded in numerical descriptors. In addition to the method used to make the observations, these must specify the unit of measurement.

Filtering numerical descriptors allows you to enter a value range, where At least means the observed value must be greater than or equal to this value (i.e. the minimum value) and At most requires that the trait value be less than or equal to the specified maximum.

Numerical descriptor filter with minimum and maximum value inputs

Scale descriptors​

Numerical observations are sometimes normalized and expressed on a scale, e.g., from short to tall, or from susceptible to resistant. These are called ordinal scale descriptors. In the example below, the damaged area of leaves is not expressed as the exact percentage of leaf area, but as a scale where leaf damage goes from low (1) to extensive (5). You can adjust the range of interest by dragging the two round buttons.

Scale descriptor filter with draggable range selectors for ordinal data

Text descriptors​

Text descriptors are used for unstructured data such as notes and comments. Entering a value in a text filter will match accessions where the note contains the phrase specified in the filter (e.g., "2006" will match both "2006DS" and "DS2006").

Text descriptor filter for searching unstructured notes and comments

Applying filters​

Genesys does not refresh the grid automatically when you choose trait filters. Click or tap Apply filters to update the results.

Apply filters button to execute the trait search

Overview tab​

After Observations, there are tabs labelled Overview, Subset, Analyze, and Description.

The Overview tab provides various visualizations of the data. Numerical traits are shown as histograms, while coded and scale descriptors use bar charts.

Histogram visualization of numerical trait data in the Overview tab

Subset tab​

The Subset tab lets you create subsets of accessions in this dataset based on traits:

  1. Select the traits to be used in clustering,
  2. use the slider to choose how many subsets to generate,
  3. click Generate sets.

Select traits on which to generate subsets

Explore the generated sets of accessions by clicking on the bar chart or on the set name.

Subsetting results

Analyze tab​

The Analyze tab provides a way to easily compare categorical traits:

Analyze categorical traits

Description tab​

The final Description tab provides access to the metadata, including dataset description, creators, licensing, and location where the data was created.

Dataset description and data resources in the Description tab

The Data and resources section lets you:

  • download the original data files,
  • download only the metadata,
  • download the passport data of accessions in this dataset,
  • navigate to the accession browser where you can filter by passport data,
  • show the map of collecting sites.