Expanding the molecular glycophenotype ontology to include model organisms and acquired diseases

Glycans are an underappreciated class of molecules despite the fact that they are implicated in more than 100 known diseases. We have developed an ontology model that captures glycan abnormalities at the molecular level (glycophenotypes) called the molecular glycophenotype ontology (MGPO). Only 30% of known glycosyltransferases have been implicated in human genetic disorders of glycosylation. Ortholog glycosyltransferases from model organism can cover relevant biological information on potential human diseases. Thus, extending MGPO to represent additional phenotypes and support annotation of model organism data will help cross-species comparison. Expansion of MGPO will also include annotation of glycophenotypes from acquired diseases.