title: biojs-io-biom, a BioJS component for handling data in Biological Observation Matrix (BIOM) format.
abstract: The Biological Observation Matrix (BIOM) format is widely used to store data from high-throughput studies. It aims at increasing interoperability of bioinformatic tools that process this data. However, due to multiple versions and implementation details, working with this format can be tricky. Currently, libraries in Python, R and Perl are available, whilst such for JavaScript are lacking. Here, we present a BioJS component for parsing BIOM data in all format versions. It supports import, modification, and export via a unified interface. This module aims to facilitate the development of web applications that use BIOM data. Finally, we demonstrate its usefulness by two applications that already use this component.Availability:https://github.com/molbiodiv/biojs-io-biom, https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.218277.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology (Zoology III), University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Markus J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Ankenbrand
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Physiology and Biophysics (Botany I), University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany; Center for Computational and Theoretical Biology (CCTB), University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Niklas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Terhoeven
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology (Zoology III), University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hohlfeld
authors.affiliation: Center for Computational and Theoretical Biology (CCTB), University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany; Department of Bioinformatics, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Förster
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology (Zoology III), University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Keller
keywords: biojs; biom-format; ecology; meta-barcoding; meta-genomics; parser