TBpop: an open-access portal integrating genomic variation, population genetic statistics, phylogeny, pangenome composition, and strain metadata of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from a population-representative survey in China
TL;DR
TBpop provides an integrated platform for exploring genome plasticity, signatures of positive selection, and conservation patterns of functionally important genes in MTB, and three interactive explorer modules: the Population Explorer, the Statistics Explorer, and the Variation Explorer.
Abstract
Tuberculosis remains a major global public health threat. While whole-genome sequencing has transformed our understanding of the causative agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), existing genomic databases are highly fragmented and often underrepresent structural variations (SVs). Furthermore, critical population-genetic statistics are rarely integrated with phylogenetic and geographic context, forcing researchers to reconcile separate datasets manually. To address this gap, we developed TBpop (https://tbpop.chinacdc.cn), an open-access, integrated population genomics portal. TBpop is built from 420 clinical MTB isolates selected from the first national drug resistance baseline survey in China. The portal integrates isolate metadata, pangenome categories, SNPs, SVs, IS6110 insertion sites, strain phylogeny, and gene-level statistics, and provides three interactive explorer modules: the Population Explorer, the Statistics Explorer, and the Variation Explorer. Additionally, a User Analysis module allows researchers to run population genetic workflows on their own alignments. TBpop provides an integrated platform for exploring genome plasticity, signatures of positive selection, and conservation patterns of functionally important genes in MTB.