(Dec 27, 2012): The first public release of Animal Correlation Database (CorrDB) included 3,635 cattle correlation data (Genetic Correlation: 2,309; Phenotypic correlation: 2,057; Residual correlation: 95l Environment correlation: 9) on 238 cattle traits; and 519 heritability data on 272 cattle traits.

Functions: A co-development strategy has been taken to share tools and resources with the QTLdb. Modified data tables, scripts, and routines from QTLdb are serving the purposes well for PubMed references and trait ontology managements within and between the two databases. Development of data curation pipelines is consider the needs from each database, thus significantly saving time and efforts.

(Dec 21, 2017): A sum of 842 new correlations (Genetic correlation: 521; Phenotypic correlation: 303; Residual correlation: 18) and 113 heritability data on 64 cattle traits.
( This is a joint release with the 34th QTLdb release)

Database developments: (1) The development of the initial sets of curator tools has completed for the Animal Correlation Database (CorrDB). With this release, we open the CorrDB curation for free registration for anyone who wish to be a curator to enter own or public correlation and heritability data. (2) As part of the Animal QTLdb/CorrDB co-development efforts, functions are developed to link QTL data with trait correlation data through common trait terms where such data exist. For example, within the CorrDB, under the Table View of correlation data, a hyper-linked red "QTL" label is added when QTL data exists on the trait; Like-wise, within the QTLdb on the trait search results, an hyper-linked tag is added on traits where correlation data are found.

(Apr 29, 2018): A sum of 7,541 new correlations [Breakdown by species -- Cattle: 4,823 (on 161 traits); Chicken: 421 (on 42 traits); Pig: 1,217 (on 84 traits); Sheep: 1,080 (on 38 traits)] and a sum of 1,015 heritability data [Breakdown by species -- Cattle: 706 (on 188 traits); Chicken: 75 (on 43 traits); Pig: 177 (on 63 traits); Sheep: 57 (on 40 traits)] have been curated into the CorrDB.
( This is a joint release with the 35th QTLdb release)

Database developments: (1) Curator tools improvements and debugs continued. (2) Special Note In order to maintain a high standard for data integrity and for better quality controls, a total of 3,628 historic correlation data were taken offline and re-entered into the database with data integrity check mechanisms newly built into the curator tools.. Even with this reduction, the total number of data records still increased by 3,913 from the last release, representing a 87% net data increase in the database.

(Aug 23, 2018): A sum of 2,099 new correlations [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 188 (on 9 traits); Cattle: 1283 (on 71 traits); Chicken: 628 (on 40 traits); ] and a sum of 424 new heritability data [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 55 (on 23 traits; Cattle: 172 (on 95 traits; Chicken: 157 (on 67 traits; Sheep: 40 (on 38 traits; ] have been curated into the CorrDB.
This is a joint release with the 36th QTLdb release)

Database developments: (1) A Frequently Asked Questions section has been added to the CorrDB. This is to address common questions raised with regard to design, usage, application, utilities, new developments, and other related issues in the use and development of the CorrDB. (2) A set of data release tools has been created to assist with consistent, flawless data review and release processes for CorrDB. This included some essential data constringe checks and complex queries to gather data status statistics for release processes.

(Dec 27, 2018): A sum of 2,033 new correlations [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 1,076 (32 new traits); Cattle: 819 (0 new traits); Chicken: 70 (5 new traits); Sheep: 68 (7 new traits); ] and a sum of 250 new heritability data [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 69 (0 new traits); Cattle: 154 (29 new traits); Chicken: 15 (3 new traits); Sheep: 12 (9 new traits); ] have been curated into the CorrDB.
( This is a joint release with the 37th QTLdb release)

(Apr 24, 2019): A sum of 3,903 new correlations [Breakdown by species -- Cattle: 1,913 (0 new traits); Horse: 201 (26 new traits); Pig: 1,789 (21 new traits); and a sum of 430 new heritability data [Breakdown by species -- Cattle: 224 (61 new traits); Horse: 114 (52 new traits); Pig: 91 (0 new traits); Sheep: 1 (0 new traits); ] have been curated into the CorrDB.
( This is a joint release with the 38th QTLdb release)

Database developments: (1) The curator tools are improved for better curator environment, tools layout, and workflows. (2) Fix of minor problems through various debug process.

(Aug 22, 2019): A sum of 1,631 new correlations [Breakdown by species -- Cattle: 320 (0 new traits); Chicken: 102 (3 new traits); Horse: 8 (1 new trait); Pig: 1,199 (53 new traits); Sheep: 2 (1 new trait); ] and a sum of 426 new heritability data [Breakdown by species -- Cattle: 57 (20 new traits); Chicken: 16 (5 new traits); Horse: 4 (1 new trait); Pig: 347 (0 new trait); Sheep: 2 (2 new traits); ] have been curated into the CorrDB.
( This is a joint release with the 39th QTLdb release)

(Dec 29, 2019): A sum of 589 new correlations [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 513 (9 new traits); Cattle: 76 (0 new traits); ] and a sum of 181 new heritability data [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 68 (0 new traits); Cattle: 104 (9 new traits); Chicken: 9 (5 new traits); ] have been curated into the CorrDB. To date, the total number of correlation data in the database: 18,638 [breakdown by species -- Cattle: 10,076; Chicken: 1,221; Horse: 209; Pig: 5,982; Sheep: 1,150], and total heritability data: 3,264 breakdown by species -- Cattle: 1,404; Chicken: 272; Horse: 118; Pig: 1,378; Sheep: 92], curated from 268 publications.
( This is a joint release with the 40th QTLdb release)

Database developments: (1) We have started to improve user interfaces for easier access to CorrDB data. The latest outcome is a new front web interface to access data by species (on the font page). (2) On-going database and tools improvements and bug fixes.

(Apr 27, 2020): A sum of 844 new correlations [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 434 (31 new traits); Cattle: 100 (9 new traits); Chicken: 20 (4 new traits); Sheep: 290 (19 new traits); ] and a sum of 330 new heritability data [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 125 (24 new traits); Cattle: 137 (43 new traits); Chicken: 12 (9 new traits); Sheep: 56 (21 new traits); ] have been curated into the CorrDB. To date, the total number of correlation data in the database: 19,482 [Breakdown by species -- Cattle: 10,176; Chicken: 1,241; Horse: 209; Pig: 6,416; Sheep: 1,440], and total heritability data: 3,594 Breakdown by species -- Cattle: 1,541; Chicken: 284; Horse: 118; Pig: 1,503; Sheep: 148], curated from 301 publications.
( This is a joint release with the 41th QTLdb release)

Database developments: Improvements on the Animal CorrDB have continued. The latest changes are rephrased data categories and reformatted web page layouts for better visual experiences. Internally, centralized configurations are expanded to include the use of names and parameters for uniform web page formatting and information passage to query engines.

(Aug 27, 2020): A sum of 909 new correlations [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 12 (2 new traits); Cattle: 800 (14 new traits); Chicken: 6 (1 new traits); Sheep: 91 (8 new traits);] and a sum of 237 new heritability data [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 27 (5 new traits); Cattle: 193 (21 new traits); Chicken: 3 (0 new traits); Sheep: 14 (9 new traits);] have been curated into the CorrDB. To date, the total number of correlation data in the database: 20,391 [Breakdown by species -- Cattle: 10,976; Chicken: 1,247; Horse: 209; Pig: 6,428; Sheep: 1,531], and total heritability data: 3,831 [Breakdown by species -- Cattle: 1,734; Chicken: 287; Horse: 118; Pig: 1,530; Sheep: 162], curated from 325 publications.
( This is a joint release with the 42th QTLdb release)

Database developments: Numerous bug fixes have been made on CorrDB public browse/query tools.

(Dec 26, 2020): A sum of 645 new correlations [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 307 (5 new traits); Cattle: 301 (11 new traits); Sheep: 37 (9 new traits); ] and a sum of 488 new heritability data [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 315 (27 new traits); Cattle: 147 (19 new traits); Sheep: 26 (15 new traits); ] have been curated into the CorrDB. To date, the total number of correlation data in the database: 21,036 [Breakdown by species -- Cattle: 11,277; Chicken: 1,247; Horse: 209; Pig: 6,735; Sheep: 1,568], and total heritability data: 4,319 [Breakdown by species -- Cattle: 1,881; Chicken: 287; Horse: 118; Pig: 1,845; Sheep: 188], curated from 348 publications.
( This is a joint release with the 43th QTLdb release)

Database developments: (1) Goat CorrDB: Groundwork has been laid by preparing the goat trait management space and other required information in order to allow the curations of published heritability data into the databases. (2) New dbxref data link services were added to allow external URL links to specific correlation data across species. Such links are often used by web services, API tools, or database xref pointers. See FAQ for details. (3) Frequently asked questions updated with the additions of new items, updates to existing items, and corrections to several items.

(Apr 26, 2021): A sum of 1,368 new correlations [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 233 (12 new traits); Cattle: 945 (24 new traits); Chicken: 190 (6 new traits) ] and a sum of 313 new heritability data [Breakdown by species -- Cattle: 177 (32 new traits); Chicken: 24 (3 new traits); Sheep: 8 (0 new traits); ] have been curated into the CorrDB. To date, the total number of correlation data in the database: 22,404 [Breakdown by species -- Cattle: 12,222; Chicken: 1,437; Horse: 209; Pig: 6,968; Sheep: 1,568], and total heritability data: 4,079 [Breakdown by species -- Cattle: 2,058; Chicken: 311; Horse: 118; Pig: 1,396 (less 1,241 heritability data entered prior to 2012 that were recalled); Sheep: 196], curated from 378 publications.
( This is a joint release with the 44th QTLdb release)

Database developments: (1) Progress is being made to improve the web interface for better data summary, query, and data representation reports. The initial visible change is the new front page with new data summary tables. Further changes will include sub-page reformats to reflect multiple reports on the same pairs of traits, and/or correlation types (phenotypic, genetic, environmental, residual), and reports by species. These improvements are made possible by recent addition of a database routine to perform post-curation data processing for improved structural data queries. This is an on-going process; stay tuned for new updates. (2) Continued improvement of data curation tools by adding data summary for curators to be better informed when at certain part of the curation process, and by adding direct work flow links between tools. (3) The Animal CorrDB are published on Figshare open access platform through the Iowa State University Library. Subsequently, now each database has an universal Digital Object Identifier (DOI), and all are covered by the Creative Commons licenses. As a result, there can be alternative ways how the users of the QTLdb or CorrDB can properly cite the use of the database resources and/or tools. Please check each database website to find more details (click on respective web page footages for copyright claims, and citation details; the same information is pre-pended to all download data files as well).

(Aug 23, 2021): A sum of 1,148 new correlations [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 193 (7 new traits); Cattle: 579 (26 new traits); Chicken: 18 (1 new traits); Sheep: 47 (4 new traits); Goat: 311 (32 new traits); ] and a sum of 194 new heritability data [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 48 (6 new traits); Cattle: 115 (25 new traits); Chicken: 7 (2 new traits); Sheep: 22 (5 new traits); Goat: 2 (1 new traits); ] have been curated into the CorrDB. To date, the total number of correlation data in the database: 23,552 [Breakdown by species -- Cattle: 12,801; Chicken: 1,455; Horse: 209; Pig: 7,161; Sheep: 1,615], and total heritability data: 4,273 [Breakdown by species -- Cattle: 2,173; Chicken: 318; Horse: 118; Pig: 1,444 Sheep: 218], curated from 407 publications.
( This is a joint release with the 45th QTLdb release)

Database developments: (1) Web portal on Animal CorrDB web site are extensively have been extensively reformed. A number of new data filters along side of search / browse functions provides additional helps by providing data scopes for users to have an idea what to expect rather then left to guess what to search for. Added links and flags on web pages can effectively enable users to traverse from one data scope to another (e.g., from traits to QTL/association data; from heritability data to correlation data; from a table view to graphic view. Linking traits to VT/LPT/CMO trait ontologies facilitates data links with external databases where such ontologies are used. (2) Added Data Summary text table on several pages to provide extended information on current data window. A featured function is a display of median, interquartile ranges of heritability data when multiple measurement results exist on the same trait.

(Dec 27, 2021): A sum of 552 new correlations [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 420 (6 new traits); Cattle: 30 (1 new traits); Sheep: 102 (1 new traits); ] and a sum of 46 new heritability data [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 3 (0 new traits); Cattle: 23 (5 new traits); Chicken: 1 (0 new traits); Horse: 4 (0 new traits); Sheep: 15 (1 new traits); ] have been curated into the CorrDB. To date, the total number of correlation data in the database: 24,104 [Breakdown by species -- Cattle: 12,831; Chicken: 1,455; Horse: 209; Pig: 7,581; Sheep: 1,717], and total heritability data: 4,319 [Breakdown by species -- Cattle: 2,196; Chicken: 319; Horse: 122; Pig: 1,447; Sheep: 233], curated from 416 publications.
( This is a joint release with the 46th QTLdb release.)

Database developments: Recent new database developments have been highlighted in our recent paper published in the 2022 Database Issue of Nucleic Acids Research, "Bringing the Animal QTLdb and CorrDB into the future: meeting new challenges and providing updated services".

(Apr 26, 2022): A sum of 752 new correlations [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 156; Cattle: 172; Chicken: 170; Sheep: 254; ] and a sum of 155 new heritability data [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 44; Cattle: 47; Chicken: 24; Horse: 1; Sheep: 36; Goat: 3; ] have been curated into the CorrDB. To date, the total number of correlation data in the database: 24,856 [Breakdown by species -- Cattle: 13,003 (on 393 traits); Chicken: 1,625 (on 90 traits); Horse: 209 (on 27 traits); Pig: 7,737 (on 267 traits); Sheep: 1,971 (on 93 traits); Goat: 311 (on 32 traits)], and total heritability data: 4,474 [Breakdown by species -- Cattle: 2,243 (on 426 traits); Chicken: 343 (on 120 traits); Horse: 123 (on 53 traits); Pig: 1,491 (on 306 traits); Sheep: 269 (on 124 traits); Goat: 5 (on 2 traits)], curated from 441 publications.
( This is a joint release with the 47th QTLdb release.)

Database developments: (1) Direct data download of correlation data and heritability data is made available. The data deposition for direct download will be synced upon each database release. (2) The curator tools have been extensively re-developed (involving 7 scripts serving 18 views/functions) in the way how "trait variants" (previously called "sibling traits") information is curated. This improvement is aimed not only to bring the erratic livestock traits curation to be practically doable, but also to gear the management of such data towards a better structure in terms of information disseminations and ontology developments. (3) As part of the efforts implementing trait variant management, more than 5 user view pages were modified to accommodate the changes.

(Aug 24, 2022): New data updates made to previously curated correlation data: 4,526 [Breakdown by species: cattle: 1,758; chicken: 898; pig: 1,096; sheep: 774]. Updates made on trait data related to correlation data: 1,632 [Breakdown by species: cattle: 395; chicken: 35; horse: 5; pig: 908; sheep: 289]. Updates made on trait data related to heritability data: 92 [Breakdown by species: cattle: 30; chicken: 3; horse: 1; pig: 39; sheep: 18].

A sum of 281 new correlations [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 46; Cattle: 115; Chicken: 120; ] and a sum of 93 new heritability data [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 38; Cattle: 36; Chicken: 6; Sheep: 13; ] have been curated into the CorrDB. To date, the total number of correlation data in the database: 25,137 [Breakdown by species -- Cattle: 13,118 (on 353 traits); Chicken: 1,745 (on 78 traits); Horse: 209 (on 27 traits); Pig: 7,783 (on 226 traits); Sheep: 1,971 (on 70 traits); Goat: 311 (on 32 traits)], and total heritability data: 4,567 [Breakdown by species -- Cattle: 2,279 (on 406 traits); Chicken: 349 (on 104 traits); Horse: 123 (on 53 traits); Pig: 1,529 (on 267 traits); Sheep: 282 (on 96 traits); Goat: 5 (on 2 traits)], curated from 457 publications.
( This is a joint release with the 48th QTLdb release.)

Database developments: As part of our efforts implementing a new trait variant management system (reported in our 2022 WCGALP paper), our efforts this summer were focused on an extensive data curation changes on all existing data in the QTLdb and CorrDB reflecting the data management structural change implemented a short while ago (see our database release 47). This effort has resulted in 254,573 QTL/associations, 1,632 correlations, and 92 heritability data updates. A positive effect on the trait data management in QTLdb/CorrDB is a significant reduction in the number of traits (for correlation data, from 902 to 786, -12.9%; for heritability data, from 1,061 to 928, -14.9%; for QTL/association data, from 2,272 to 2,146, -5.9%).

(Dec 28, 2022): A sum of 584 new correlations [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 1,119; Cattle: 353; Chicken: 90; Sheep: 140; ] and a sum of 211 new heritability data [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 78; Cattle: 51; Chicken: 28; Sheep: 54; ] have been curated into the CorrDB. To date, the total number of correlation data in the database: 26,839 [Breakdown by species -- Cattle: 13,471 (on 352 traits); Chicken:1,835 (on 80 traits); Horse:209 (on 27 traits); Pig:8,902 (on 241 traits); Sheep:2,111 (on 74 traits); Goat:311 (on 32 traits)], and total heritability data: 4,778 [Breakdown by species -- Cattle:2,330 (on 405 traits); Chicken:377 (on 106 traits); Horse:123 (on 53 traits); Pig:1,607 (on 280 traits); Sheep:336 (on 104 traits); Goat:5 (on 2 traits)] curated from 480 publications. In addition, updates have been made to previously curated 384 correlation data and 395 heritability data as part of our efforts on data quality controls.
( This is a joint release with the 49th QTLdb release.)

Database developments: Visulization of correlation netowrks: The Animal CorrDB web portal has been updated with additions and/or modifications of its correlation netowrk visulization options. In addition to Graphviz dot graph tool, Cytoscape Web tools are made available in some sub-pages, on different levels of data summary and/or searched result presenting page views.

(Apr 26, 2023): A sum of 1,131 new correlations [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 198; Cattle: 597; Chicken: 202; Sheep: 134; ] and a sum of 371 new heritability data [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 108; Cattle: 202; Chicken: 20; Horse: 8; Sheep: 33; ] have been curated into the CorrDB. To date, the total number of correlation data in the database: 27,970 [Breakdown by species -- Cattle: 14,068 (on 357 traits, 162 trait variants); Chicken:2,037 (on 81 traits, 47 trait variants); Horse:209 (on 27 traits, 0 trait variants); Pig:9,100 (on 238 traits, 107 trait variants); Sheep:2,245 (on 77 traits, 90 trait variants); Goat:311 (on 32 traits, 0 trait variants)], and total heritability data: 5,149 [Breakdown by species -- Cattle:2,532 (on 410 traits, 179 trait variants); Chicken:397 (on 108 traits, 39 trait variants); Horse:131 (on 54 traits, 1 trait variants); Pig:1,715 (on 286 traits, 83 trait variants); Sheep:369 (on 114 traits, 90 trait variants); Goat:5 (on 2 traits, 3 trait variants)] curated from 520 publications.
In addition, as part of our efforts on data quality controls, update works have been made to previously curated data that involved 8,165 correlations, 194 base traits, and 1,044 trait variants.
( This is a joint release with the 50th QTLdb release.)

Database developments summary:
(1) Our works on devising new structures/curation pipelines introducing "trait variants" date type is published on recent issue of Oxford journal Database (Volume 2023, baad024), "A combinatorial approach implementing new database structures to facilitate practical data curation management of QTL, association, correlation and heritability data on trait variants" (DOI: 10.1093/database/baad024). (2) As a result of implementing trait variant curation, several changes are visible on this data release: (a) There are new parameters to describe traits in GFF files (column 9) for data downloads, namely 'BaseTrait', 'TraitVariant', and 'TraitReprtNM', for "base trait", "trait variants", and "reported trait names," respectively (see the QTLdb FAQ "Terminology" section for details). (b) Data summaries on trait variants are visible (you may have noticed on our database releases since last year a reduction in the number of base traits and increase in the number of trait variants -- for those who are interested to know the reason, please read our paper for details). (c) Changes are coming on web pages describing traits; stay tuned. (3) We retrospectively fixed some non-current-standard characters stored in the database, which sometimes displayed as black diamonds or other types of "gibberish" in a web browser, introduced during historical data curations when these characters were copied/pasted into the database over the past 20 years. The "non-current-standard characters" include symbols representing "plus-minus sign" (± or +/-), "multiplication sign" (x or x), and may involve decodes from ASCII, UNICODE, HEX code, and/or HTML character coding methods. The solutions included character settings alignment in the backend storage engine and web interface programming environments, in compliance with current standards. Procedures have been implemented in the curation environment to automatically catch or convert non-standard characters or flag to make suggestions to curators.

(Aug 26, 2023): A sum of 1,977 new correlations [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 208; Cattle: 771; Chicken: 16; Sheep: 459; Goat: 523] and a sum of 255 new heritability data [Breakdown by species -- Pig: 66; Cattle: 46; Chicken: 3; Sheep: 73; Goat: 67] have been curated into the CorrDB. To date, the total number of correlation data in the database: 29,947 [Breakdown by species -- Cattle: 14,839 (on 357 traits, 237 trait variants); Chicken:2,053 (on 81 traits, 71 trait variants); Horse:209 (on 27 traits, 0 trait variants); Pig:9,308 (on 230 traits, 203 trait variants); Sheep:2,704 (on 76 traits, 141 trait variants); Goat:834 (on 42 traits, 27 trait variants)], and total heritability data: 5,404 [Breakdown by species -- Cattle:2,578 (on 406 traits, 250 trait variants); Chicken:400 (on 107 traits, 60 trait variants); Horse:131 (on 54 traits, 1 trait variants); Pig:1,781 (on 279 traits, 224 trait variants); Sheep:442 (on 112 traits, 136 trait variants); Goat:72 (on 22 traits, 27 trait variants)] curated from 549 publications.

( This is a joint release with the 51th QTLdb release.)

Database developments notes:
We continued to transition from using "sibling traits" to "trait variants" (see our recent publication "A combinatorial approach implementing new database structures to facilitate practical data curation management of QTL, association, correlation and heritability data on trait variants"; DOI: 10.1093/database/baad024). Since April 2023, 1,494 new trait variants created on CorrDB, linked to 7,037 previously curated correlation/heritability data.

( The next database release will be in late December, 2023 )

For most recent updates, please refer to "major updates" or "permanent additions" section in "What's New" on the AnimalGenome.ORG site.