Applying the Gene Ontology in microbial annotation

The ever-increasing number of microbial sequencing projects necessitates a standardized system for the capture of genomic data to ensure that the flood of information produced can be effectively utilized. The Gene Ontology (GO) provides the standard for gene product annotations in the areas of molecular function, biological process and cellular component. A recent effort by the Plant-Associated Microbe Gene Ontology (PAMGO) Consortium has produced more than 800 new GO terms specific for annotating interactions between microbes and their hosts and other symbiotic interactions. In addition, there have been changes and additions to the GO annotation format and evidence storage system to reflect the needs of the microbial annotation community. The capture of annotation information with systems like the GO is absolutely essential to enable the efficient mining of annotation information across diverse genomes and thus to further biological research in meaningful ways.