--- author: - contributor_roles: [] family: Edmunds given: Scott url: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6444-1436 blog: authors: null community_id: 52db0518-e228-4260-8c54-c4e323b2569d created: 1675555200 current_feed_url: null description: Data driven blogging from the GigaScience editors doi: https://doi.org/10.59350/gigablog favicon: https://rogue-scholar.org/api/communities/52db0518-e228-4260-8c54-c4e323b2569d/logo feed_format: application/atom+xml feed_url: http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/feed/atom/ filter: null generator: Other home_page_url: https://gigasciencejournal.com/blog issn: null language: eng license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode prefix: '10.59350' relative_url: null secure: false slug: gigablog status: archived subfield: '1311' title: GigaBlog updated: null use_api: null container: GigaBlog date: '2013-10-31T00:00:00+00:00' date_updated: '2025-12-06T10:42:46+00:00' guid: http://finaloriginalblogs.dev/gigablog/?p=804 identifier: https://doi.org/10.59350/q3a51-5ff35 issn: null keywords: - Biology - Bat - Genome - Genomics - GigaDB lang: en license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode rid: myezg-3wg97 rights: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode summary: As big proponents of Open Data, on top of the many diverse datasets associated with GigaScience papers in our integrated GigaDB database, we are continuing to fill it with datasets produced by our BGI hosts. title: 'Release the Bats! New Halloween #opendata treat in GigaDB' url: https://wayback.archive-it.org/22098/2025-05-01T17:13:42Z/http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/release-the-bats-new-halloween-opendata-treat-in-gigadb version: v1 --- As big proponents of Open Data, on top of the many diverse datasets associated with *GigaScience* papers in our integrated [GigaDB](http://gigadb.org/ "GigaDB homepage"){target="_blank" rel="noopener"} database, we are continuing to fill it with datasets produced by our [BGI](http://www.genomics.cn/index "BGI homepage"){target="_blank" rel="noopener"} hosts. As a special Halloween treat, today we\'ve added three bat genomes to the database: [Brandt\'s bat (*Myotis brandtii*)](http://dx.doi.org/10.5524/100065 "Brandt's bat DOI"){target="_blank" rel="noopener"}, [the Black Flying Fox (*Pteropus alecto*)](http://dx.doi.org/10.5524/100066 "Flying fox DOI"){target="_blank" rel="noopener"} and the [Mouse-eared bat (*Myotis davidii*)](http://dx.doi.org/10.5524/100067 "Mouse eared bat DOI"){target="_blank" rel="noopener"}. While these species have been available in the SRA been since publication in [*Science*](http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2012/12/19/science.1230835.full "Science bat genomes"){target="_blank" rel="noopener"} and [*Nature Communications*](http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2013/130820/ncomms3212/full/ncomms3212.html "Nature Comms Brandt's bat paper"){target="_blank" rel="noopener"}, we have managed to get hold and release the associated assemblies and annotation files for the first time. On top of being independently citable, and discoverable in the [DataCite search engine](http://search.datacite.org/ui "DataCite search"){target="_blank" rel="noopener"} and Thomson-Reuters [Data Citation index](http://wokinfo.com/products_tools/multidisciplinary/dci/ "Data Citation Index"){target="_blank" rel="noopener"}, being available in GigaDB means they are quickly downloadable using our Aspera license, and we hope these data will eventually be usable from our [GigaGalaxy](http://galaxy.cbiit.cuhk.edu.hk/ "GigaGalaxy"){target="_blank" rel="noopener"} server when the two platforms are integrated. Despite Bats unfairly creepy reputation ([the attentions](http://youtu.be/AWKXrYS7MOA "Release the Bats!"){target="_blank" rel="noopener"} of Gothic Rock bands not helping their case), these are fascinating and important species to study, essential to our ecosystems for their roles in pollination and insect control, important in human health due to them being reservoirs for viruses such as SARS, MERS,and Ebola, and models for physiology and longevity and human sensory disorders. After Rodents, Bats make up the next-biggest group of mammalian species, with their roughly 1000 species making up about 20% of the mammalian tree. One feature they share with birds seems to be their compact genomes. Being roughly 2/3 the size of humans and most other mammals these 3 genomes will likely be joined by many more of their winged cousins in the near future, but until then enjoy this great video from Emma Teeling explaining the importance of studying the genomes of these fascinating species. **Further reading** 1\. Seim, I; Fang,X; Xiong,Z; Lobanov,AV; Huang,Z; Ma,S; Yue Feng,Y; Turanov,AA; Zhu,Y; Lenz,TL; Gerashchenko,MV; Fan,D; Yim,SH; Yao,X; Jordan,D; Xiong,Y; Ma,Y; Lyapunov,AN; Chen,G; Kulakova,OI; Sun,Y; Lee,SG; Bronson,RT; Moskalev,AA; Sunyaev,SR; Zhang,G; Krogh,A; Wang,J; Gladyshevb,VN (2013): Genomic and transcriptomic data from the Brandt\'s bat (Myotis brandtii). GigaScience Database. [http://dx.doi.org/10.5524/100065](http://dx.doi.org/10.5524/100065 "Brandt's bat DOI"){target="_blank" rel="noopener"} 2\. Zhang, G; Cowled, C; Shi, Z; Huang, Z; Bishop-Lilly, KA; Fang, X; Wynne, JW; Xiong, Z; Baker, ML; Zhao, W; Tachedjian, M; Zhu, Y; Zhou, P; Jiang, X; Ng, J; Yang, L; Wu, L; Xiao, J; Feng, Y; Chen, Y; Sun, X; Zhang, Y; Marsh, GA; Crameri, G; Broder, CC; Frey, KG; Wang, LF; Wang, J (2013): Genomic data from the Black Flying Fox (Pteropus alecto). GigaScience Database. [http://dx.doi.org/10.5524/100066](http://dx.doi.org/10.5524/100066 "Flying fox DOI"){target="_blank" rel="noopener"} 3\. Zhang, G; Cowled, C; Shi, Z; Huang, Z; Bishop-Lilly, KA; Fang, X; Wynne, JW; Xiong, Z; Baker, ML; Zhao, W; Tachedjian, M; Zhu, Y; Zhou, P; Jiang, X; Ng, J; Yang, L; Wu, L; Xiao, J; Feng, Y; Chen, Y; Sun, X; Zhang, Y; Marsh, GA; Crameri, G; Broder, CC; Frey, KG; Wang, LF; Wang, J (2013): Genomic data from the Insectivorous bat (Myotis davidii). GigaScience Database. [http://dx.doi.org/10.5524/100067](http://dx.doi.org/10.5524/100067 "Myotis davidii DOI"){target="_blank" rel="noopener"} 4\. Seim et al.(2013) Genome analysis reveals insights into physiology and longevity of the Brandt\'s bat Myotis brandtii. *Nat Commun.* **4**:2212. doi: [10.1038/ncomms3212.](http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2013/130820/ncomms3212/full/ncomms3212.html "Nature Comms Brandt's bat paper"){target="_blank" rel="noopener"} 5\. Zhang et al. (2013) Comparative analysis of bat genomes provides insight into the evolution of flight and immunity. *Science*. **339**(6118):456-60. [doi: 10.1126/science.1230835](http://www.sciencemag.org/content/339/6118/456.long "Science bat genomes"){target="_blank" rel="noopener"}. The post [Release the Bats! New Halloween \#opendata treat in GigaDB](http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/release-the-bats-new-halloween-opendata-treat-in-gigadb/){rel="nofollow"} appeared first on [GigaBlog](http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog){rel="nofollow"}.