Ontology for immunogenetics: the IMGT-ONTOLOGY

Motivation: IMGT, the international ImMunoGeneTics database (http://imgt.ci nes.fr:8104), created by M.-P. Lefranc, is an integrated database specializ ing in antigen receptors (immunoglobulins and T-cell receptors) and major h istocompatibility complex (MHC) of all vertebrate species. IMGT accurate im munogenetics data ave based on the standardization of the biological knowle dge provided by the 'ImMunoGeneTics' IMGT-ONTOLOGY. The IMGT-ONTOLOGY describes the classification and specification of terms n eeded for immunogenetics and bioinformatics. IMGT-ONTOLOGY covers four main concepts: 'IDENTIFICATION', 'DESCRIPTION', 'CLASSIFICATION' and 'OBTENTION '. These concepts allow an extensive and standardized description and chara cterization of immunoglobulin and T-cell receptor data. The controlled voca bulary and the annotation rules ave indispensable to ensure accuracy, consi stency and coherence in IMGT. IMGT-ONTOLOGY allows scientists and clinician s to use, for the first time, identical terms with the same meaning in immu nogenetics. It provides a semantic repository that will improve interoperab ility between specialist and generalist databases.