About

The team, funding, and how to get in touch

The MGnify BGCs Discovery Platform

The MGnify BGCs Discovery Platform is developed by the Microbiome Informatics team at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). It is a component of MGnify, EMBL-EBI’s resource for the analysis and archival of metagenomic data.

The platform helps experimental researchers identify biosynthetic gene clusters worth pursuing in the laboratory. It combines large-scale computational annotation of public genomic data with interactive visualisation and scoring, making bioinformatics-derived candidates accessible to researchers who work primarily at the bench.

Team

The platform is built and maintained by the Microbiome Informatics team at EMBL-EBI, with contributors in natural product genomics, metagenomics, machine learning, and web development.

Funding

Development is supported by:

  • EMBL — core funding for EMBL-EBI and the Microbiome Informatics team.
  • Wellcome Trust — grant funding for MGnify and related infrastructure.

The platform builds on data and tools from the wider natural products community, including antiSMASH, GECCO, SanntiS, MIBiG, Pfam / InterPro, and ClassyFire/ChemOnt.

Citation

If you use the platform in your research, please cite:

Citation details will be added upon publication. In the meantime, please reference the platform URL and the MGnify resource.

If your work relies on specific components, please also cite the relevant upstream tools — antiSMASH, GECCO, and SanntiS for BGC detection; MIBiG for the validated reference set; InterPro/Pfam for domains; and MGnify for assembly data.

Data sources

The platform integrates data from several public resources. See What’s in the Catalogue for the current collections.

Source What it provides
MGnify Metagenomic assemblies and metagenome-assembled genome catalogues
BacDive Cultured type-strain metadata and isolation sources
MIBiG Experimentally validated BGCs and known compounds

Source code

Contributions, bug reports, and feature requests are welcome via GitHub Issues.

Contact and feedback

Privacy and data handling

  • Catalogue entries are derived from public genomic data and are freely accessible.
  • Uploaded assets (Load Asset) are processed ephemerally for your session only. They are never added to the public catalogue or shared with other users, and are evicted when you remove them or after they expire.
  • Shortlists are stored locally in your browser. They are sent to the server only when you generate a report or export.
  • No account is required for read-only access to public data.

Version

The current platform version and key data dependencies (MIBiG release, GTDB release, tool versions) are shown in the platform footer. This documentation corresponds to the version current at the time of writing.