MASTR-MS: a web-based collaborative laboratory information management system (LIMS) for metabolomics

Adam Hunter; Saravanan Dayalan; David De Souza; Brad Power; Rodney Lorrimar; Tamas Szabo; Thu Nguyen; Sean O'Callaghan; Jeremy Hack; James Pyke; Amsha Nahid; Roberto Barrero; Ute Roessner; Vladimir Likic; Dedreia Tull; Antony Bacic; Malcolm McConville; Matthew Bellgard

doi:10.1007/s11306-016-1142-2

MASTR-MS: a web-based collaborative laboratory information management system (LIMS) for metabolomics

Metabolomics. 2017;13(2):14. doi: 10.1007/s11306-016-1142-2. Epub 2016 Dec 27.

Authors

Adam Hunter^#¹, Saravanan Dayalan^#^{2

3}, David De Souza^#^{2

3}, Brad Power¹, Rodney Lorrimar¹, Tamas Szabo¹, Thu Nguyen³, Sean O'Callaghan^{2

3}, Jeremy Hack⁴, James Pyke^{2

3}, Amsha Nahid^{1

3}, Roberto Barrero¹, Ute Roessner^{2

5}, Vladimir Likic², Dedreia Tull^{2

3}, Antony Bacic^{2

3

6}, Malcolm McConville^{2

3}, Matthew Bellgard¹

Affiliations

¹ Australian Bioinformatics Facility, Centre for Comparative Genomics, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150 Australia.
² Metabolomics Australia, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010 Australia.
³ Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010 Australia.
⁴ Metabolomics Australia, The Australian Wine Research Institute, Adelaide, SA 5064 Australia.
⁵ School of Biosciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010 Australia.
⁶ ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Cell Walls, School of Biosciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010 Australia.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: An increasing number of research laboratories and core analytical facilities around the world are developing high throughput metabolomic analytical and data processing pipelines that are capable of handling hundreds to thousands of individual samples per year, often over multiple projects, collaborations and sample types. At present, there are no Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) that are specifically tailored for metabolomics laboratories that are capable of tracking samples and associated metadata from the beginning to the end of an experiment, including data processing and archiving, and which are also suitable for use in large institutional core facilities or multi-laboratory consortia as well as single laboratory environments.

Results: Here we present MASTR-MS, a downloadable and installable LIMS solution that can be deployed either within a single laboratory or used to link workflows across a multisite network. It comprises a Node Management System that can be used to link and manage projects across one or multiple collaborating laboratories; a User Management System which defines different user groups and privileges of users; a Quote Management System where client quotes are managed; a Project Management System in which metadata is stored and all aspects of project management, including experimental setup, sample tracking and instrument analysis, are defined, and a Data Management System that allows the automatic capture and storage of raw and processed data from the analytical instruments to the LIMS.

Conclusion: MASTR-MS is a comprehensive LIMS solution specifically designed for metabolomics. It captures the entire lifecycle of a sample starting from project and experiment design to sample analysis, data capture and storage. It acts as an electronic notebook, facilitating project management within a single laboratory or a multi-node collaborative environment. This software is being developed in close consultation with members of the metabolomics research community. It is freely available under the GNU GPL v3 licence and can be accessed from, https://muccg.github.io/mastr-ms/.

Keywords: LIMS; MASTR-MS; Metabolomics; Omics.