The 2027 Gordon Research Seminar on Microbial Population Biology (GRS) will be held in Andover, New Hampshire. Apply today to reserve your spot.

Background Hierarchical quantitative profiles are widely used in microbiome studies and other domains. However, comparing multiple samples and experimental groups while preserving hierarchical structure remains challenging. Many existing workflows require extensive manual figure assembly or do not support aligned comparisons across conditions on a shared hierarchy. Results We developed MetaTree, an open-source platform that runs in a web browser for interactive visualization and comparative analysis of hierarchical quantitative data. MetaTree anchors samples, groups, and contrasts between groups to a shared reference hierarchy, preserving one-to-one node correspondence so that the same clade is compared in the same position across views. In addition to visualization, MetaTree integrates statistical testing for comparisons between two groups with false discovery rate (FDR) control, enabling users to identify clades with consistent differences between conditions and interpret them in hierarchical context. MetaTree also provides user configurable controls for visual encoding, filtering thresholds, label density, and layout, allowing figures to be adapted to different datasets and reporting needs. The interface remains usable for large hierarchies through interactive navigation, adaptive label handling, and branch collapsing. Conclusions MetaTree is an installation-free web platform (https://byemaxx.github.io/MetaTree) for topology-consistent visualization and comparison of hierarchical profiles, supporting coordinated multi-panel exploration and automated comparison matrices to enable rapid generation of publication-ready figures for microbiome and other hierarchical datasets.

The National Research Organisations (NRO) Group officially launches today (Thursday 9 July) at the Academy of Medical Sciences, London. A first of its kind collective for the UK, the NRO brings…

npj Biofilms and Microbiomes - Individual variability shapes ex vivo responses to resistant starch in inflammatory bowel disease derived microbiomes

A century after liver was found to treat pernicious anaemia, scientists are still uncovering how vitamin B12 helps blood, nerves and cells.

Non-digestible oligosaccharides are widely used as prebiotics, yet structurally related glycans can elicit distinct gut microbiome responses. Here, we combined controlled ex vivo fermentation, deep DI...

New research suggests that our microbiomes can even help us resist the effects of ageing... If we treat them right.

Biotic interactions modulate protein abundance, reducing functional redundancy and increasing productivity in complex bacterial communities.

Clostridium perfringens lacking perfringolysin O toxin isolated from preterm infants metabolizes human milk oligosaccharide disialyllacto-N-tetraose to produce metabolites that promote the growth of c...

The Quadram Institute Clinical Seedcorn Fund was first established in 2021/2022 to help clinicians develop research ideas with scientists at the Quadram Institute. The fund supports secondments of…

Applications are invited for a Senior Research Scientist to join the Laboratory of Prof Daniel Figeys at Quadram Institute Bioscience

Researchers from the Quadram Institute have developed an open access book to help ensure best practice in microbiome research.

Our newsletter highlights the latest news and research breakthrough from across the Quadram Institute

npj Biofilms and Microbiomes - Microbiome-dependent functional responses to structurally distinct oligosaccharides revealed by metaproteomics

Scientists from the University of Ottawa and Beijing Institute of Lifeomics found that SSRIs, SNRIs and Tricyclic Antidepressants, commonly prescribed anti-depressants that target the…

Claims that the gut microbiome causally contributes to autism regularly appear in the scientific literature and popular press. Mitchell et al. critically examine influential studies underpinning these...

Nature Communications - Here, the authors systematically map metaproteomic responses of ex vivo human gut microbiota to common therapeutics, identifying several drug classes inducing strong...

Objective To examine whether exposure to sugar rationing during early life is associated with a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular outcomes in adulthood. Design Natural experiment study. Settin...

An team has developed a new technique that will speed up the design of drugs targeting ion channels, a type of cell membrane protein

Taking vitamin D2 might be lowering the body's levels of the more efficient form of vitamin D, vitamin D3, according to new research

Here, Delaroque et al. show that maternal intake of dietary emulsifiers alters offspring microbiota early in life, which, associated with perturbation of goblet cell function, promotes increased susce...