To facilitate the systematic storage, analysis and integration of metabolomics experiments, we have implemented MeltDB, a web-based software platform for the analysis and annotation of datasets from metabolomics experiments. MeltDB supports open file formats (netCDF, mzXML, mzDATA) and facilitates the integration
and evaluation of existing preprocessing methods. The system provides researchers with means to consistently describe and store their experimental datasets. Comprehensive analysis and visualization features of metabolomics datasets are offered to the community through a web-based user interface. The system covers the process from raw data management to the visualization of results in a knowledge-based background and is integrated into the context of existing software platforms of the junior group for computational genomics at Bielefeld University.

 

A short summary of MeltDB key features

  • Store & organize experimental data
    Upload chromatogram data from different file formats (netCDF, mzXML, mzDATA) and organize these into chromatogram groups (e.g. replicates) and experiments.

  • Feature extraction & preprocessing
    Peak detection, chromatogram alignment and profiling are offered within the flexible MeltDB tool pipeline.

  • Compound identification & quantitation
    Identify compounds according to database matches (NIST, GMD) and/or create and use your own reference lists. For quantitation area and intensity of peaks can be normalized to internal standards (e.g. Ribitol).

  • Explorative & statistical analysis
    A multitude of data visualizations and statistical tools can be applied to your processing results. Among these are significance tests, clustering algorithms, machine-learning tools and others.

  • Integration with omics data
    An interface to the ProMeTra software allows to fuse your results from metabolomics with transcriptomics or proteomics data.

 

How-To MeltDB

For information about the first steps in MeltDB, have a look at the MeltDB wiki or the MeltDB video tutorials.