ATOL: an ontology for livestock
Résumé
The development of ontology in biology is necessary to better organize and exploit the knowledge on the
individual characteristics like his phenotype (result of the expression and regulation of the genome). The
computerized data processing for the characterization of each phenotype highlights the need of standardized
and explicit language, defining without ambiguity the traits used and referred by various users: geneticists,
physiologists, biochemists, producers, archivists. This can be reached trough the structured collection of
terms and concepts within an ontology built to meet the user’s needs: ATOL for ‘Animal Trait Ontology for
Livestock’, has been specifically dedicated to the animals breeding (fish, poultry, mammals). However, this
generic ontology of phenotypic traits provides characters whose aggregation can explain the components of
the quantity and quality of cattle productions: meat, milk, effective nutritional and fertility, as well as those
taken into account for the assessment of animal welfare. ATOL should help to annotate phenotypic databases
in order to establish more precise genotype/phenotype relationships while considering environmental
effect on phenotype using EOL (Environment Ontology for Livestock). Moreover ATOL might contribute
to a systemic, predictive approach of animal performance and using the semantics tools an access to more
relevant and precise information in document content.