Contents

1 Installation

if (!requireNamespace("BiocManager", quietly = TRUE))
     install.packages("BiocManager") 
# orthogene is only available on Bioconductor>=3.14
if(BiocManager::version()<"3.14") 
  BiocManager::install(update = TRUE, ask = FALSE)

BiocManager::install("orthogene")
library(orthogene)

data("exp_mouse")
# Setting to "homologene" for the purposes of quick demonstration.
# We generally recommend using method="gprofiler" (default).
method <- "homologene"

2 Introduction

It’s not always clear whether a dataset is using the original species gene names, human gene names, or some other species’ gene names.

infer_species takes a list/matrix/data.frame with genes and infers the species that they best match to!

For the sake of speed, the genes extracted from gene_df are tested against genomes from only the following 6 test_species by default: - human - monkey - rat - mouse - zebrafish - fly

However, you can supply your own list of test_species, which will be automatically be mapped and standardised using map_species.

3 Examples

3.1 Mouse genes

3.1.1 Infer the species

matches <- orthogene::infer_species(gene_df = exp_mouse, 
                                    method = method)
## Preparing gene_df.
## sparseMatrix format detected.
## Extracting genes from rownames.
## 15,259 genes extracted.
## Testing for gene overlap with: human
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: human
## Common name mapping found for human
## 1 organism identified from search: 9606
## Gene table with 19,129 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 19,129 genes from human.
## Testing for gene overlap with: monkey
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: monkey
## Common name mapping found for monkey
## 1 organism identified from search: 9544
## Gene table with 16,843 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 16,843 genes from monkey.
## Testing for gene overlap with: rat
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: rat
## Common name mapping found for rat
## 1 organism identified from search: 10116
## Gene table with 20,616 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 20,616 genes from rat.
## Testing for gene overlap with: mouse
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: mouse
## Common name mapping found for mouse
## 1 organism identified from search: 10090
## Gene table with 21,207 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 21,207 genes from mouse.
## Testing for gene overlap with: zebrafish
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: zebrafish
## Common name mapping found for zebrafish
## 1 organism identified from search: 7955
## Gene table with 20,897 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 20,897 genes from zebrafish.
## Testing for gene overlap with: fly
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: fly
## Common name mapping found for fly
## 1 organism identified from search: 7227
## Gene table with 8,438 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 8,438 genes from fly.
## Top match:
##   - species: mouse 
##   - percent_match: 92%

3.2 Rat genes

3.2.1 Create example data

To create an example dataset, turn the gene names into rat genes.

exp_rat <- orthogene::convert_orthologs(gene_df = exp_mouse, 
                                        input_species = "mouse", 
                                        output_species = "rat",
                                        method = method)
## Preparing gene_df.
## sparseMatrix format detected.
## Extracting genes from rownames.
## 15,259 genes extracted.
## Converting mouse ==> rat orthologs using: homologene
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: mouse
## Common name mapping found for mouse
## 1 organism identified from search: 10090
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: rat
## Common name mapping found for rat
## 1 organism identified from search: 10116
## Checking for genes without orthologs in rat.
## Extracting genes from input_gene.
## 13,812 genes extracted.
## Extracting genes from ortholog_gene.
## 13,812 genes extracted.
## Checking for genes without 1:1 orthologs.
## Dropping 486 genes that have multiple input_gene per ortholog_gene (many:1).
## Dropping 148 genes that have multiple ortholog_gene per input_gene (1:many).
## Filtering gene_df with gene_map
## Setting ortholog_gene to rownames.
## 
## =========== REPORT SUMMARY ===========
## Total genes dropped after convert_orthologs :
##    2,322 / 15,259 (15%)
## Total genes remaining after convert_orthologs :
##    12,937 / 15,259 (85%)

3.2.2 Infer the species

matches <- orthogene::infer_species(gene_df = exp_rat, 
                                    method = method)
## Preparing gene_df.
## sparseMatrix format detected.
## Extracting genes from rownames.
## 12,937 genes extracted.
## Testing for gene overlap with: human
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: human
## Common name mapping found for human
## 1 organism identified from search: 9606
## Gene table with 19,129 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 19,129 genes from human.
## Testing for gene overlap with: monkey
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: monkey
## Common name mapping found for monkey
## 1 organism identified from search: 9544
## Gene table with 16,843 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 16,843 genes from monkey.
## Testing for gene overlap with: rat
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: rat
## Common name mapping found for rat
## 1 organism identified from search: 10116
## Gene table with 20,616 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 20,616 genes from rat.
## Testing for gene overlap with: mouse
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: mouse
## Common name mapping found for mouse
## 1 organism identified from search: 10090
## Gene table with 21,207 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 21,207 genes from mouse.
## Testing for gene overlap with: zebrafish
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: zebrafish
## Common name mapping found for zebrafish
## 1 organism identified from search: 7955
## Gene table with 20,897 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 20,897 genes from zebrafish.
## Testing for gene overlap with: fly
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: fly
## Common name mapping found for fly
## 1 organism identified from search: 7227
## Gene table with 8,438 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 8,438 genes from fly.
## Top match:
##   - species: rat 
##   - percent_match: 100%

3.3 Human genes

3.3.1 Create example data

To create an example dataset, turn the gene names into human genes.

exp_human <- orthogene::convert_orthologs(gene_df = exp_mouse, 
                                          input_species = "mouse", 
                                          output_species = "human",
                                          method = method)
## Preparing gene_df.
## sparseMatrix format detected.
## Extracting genes from rownames.
## 15,259 genes extracted.
## Converting mouse ==> human orthologs using: homologene
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: mouse
## Common name mapping found for mouse
## 1 organism identified from search: 10090
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: human
## Common name mapping found for human
## 1 organism identified from search: 9606
## Checking for genes without orthologs in human.
## Extracting genes from input_gene.
## 13,416 genes extracted.
## Extracting genes from ortholog_gene.
## 13,416 genes extracted.
## Checking for genes without 1:1 orthologs.
## Dropping 46 genes that have multiple input_gene per ortholog_gene (many:1).
## Dropping 56 genes that have multiple ortholog_gene per input_gene (1:many).
## Filtering gene_df with gene_map
## Setting ortholog_gene to rownames.
## 
## =========== REPORT SUMMARY ===========
## Total genes dropped after convert_orthologs :
##    2,016 / 15,259 (13%)
## Total genes remaining after convert_orthologs :
##    13,243 / 15,259 (87%)

3.3.2 Infer the species

matches <- orthogene::infer_species(gene_df = exp_human, 
                                    method = method)
## Preparing gene_df.
## sparseMatrix format detected.
## Extracting genes from rownames.
## 13,243 genes extracted.
## Testing for gene overlap with: human
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: human
## Common name mapping found for human
## 1 organism identified from search: 9606
## Gene table with 19,129 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 19,129 genes from human.
## Testing for gene overlap with: monkey
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: monkey
## Common name mapping found for monkey
## 1 organism identified from search: 9544
## Gene table with 16,843 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 16,843 genes from monkey.
## Testing for gene overlap with: rat
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: rat
## Common name mapping found for rat
## 1 organism identified from search: 10116
## Gene table with 20,616 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 20,616 genes from rat.
## Testing for gene overlap with: mouse
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: mouse
## Common name mapping found for mouse
## 1 organism identified from search: 10090
## Gene table with 21,207 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 21,207 genes from mouse.
## Testing for gene overlap with: zebrafish
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: zebrafish
## Common name mapping found for zebrafish
## 1 organism identified from search: 7955
## Gene table with 20,897 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 20,897 genes from zebrafish.
## Testing for gene overlap with: fly
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: fly
## Common name mapping found for fly
## 1 organism identified from search: 7227
## Gene table with 8,438 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 8,438 genes from fly.
## Top match:
##   - species: human 
##   - percent_match: 100%

4 Additional test_species

You can even supply test_species with the name of one of the R packages that orthogene gets orthologs from. This will test against all species available in that particular R package.

For example, by setting test_species="homologene" we automatically test for % gene matches in each of the 20+ species available in homologene.

matches <- orthogene::infer_species(gene_df = exp_human, 
                                    test_species = method, 
                                    method = method)
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Preparing gene_df.
## sparseMatrix format detected.
## Extracting genes from rownames.
## 13,243 genes extracted.
## Testing for gene overlap with: Mus musculus
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: Mus musculus
## 1 organism identified from search: 10090
## Gene table with 21,207 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 21,207 genes from Mus musculus.
## Testing for gene overlap with: Rattus norvegicus
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: Rattus norvegicus
## 1 organism identified from search: 10116
## Gene table with 20,616 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 20,616 genes from Rattus norvegicus.
## Testing for gene overlap with: Kluyveromyces lactis
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: Kluyveromyces lactis
## 1 organism identified from search: 28985
## Gene table with 4,283 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 4,283 genes from Kluyveromyces lactis.
## Testing for gene overlap with: Magnaporthe oryzae
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: Magnaporthe oryzae
## 1 organism identified from search: 318829
## Gene table with 6,598 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 6,598 genes from Magnaporthe oryzae.
## Testing for gene overlap with: Eremothecium gossypii
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: Eremothecium gossypii
## 1 organism identified from search: 33169
## Gene table with 3,874 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 3,874 genes from Eremothecium gossypii.
## Testing for gene overlap with: Arabidopsis thaliana
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: Arabidopsis thaliana
## 1 organism identified from search: 3702
## Gene table with 19,143 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 19,143 genes from Arabidopsis thaliana.
## Testing for gene overlap with: Oryza sativa
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: Oryza sativa
## 1 organism identified from search: 4530
## Gene table with 16,112 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 16,112 genes from Oryza sativa.
## Testing for gene overlap with: Schizosaccharomyces pombe
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: Schizosaccharomyces pombe
## 1 organism identified from search: 4896
## Gene table with 3,018 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 3,018 genes from Schizosaccharomyces pombe.
## Testing for gene overlap with: Saccharomyces cerevisiae
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: Saccharomyces cerevisiae
## 1 organism identified from search: 4932
## Gene table with 4,579 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 4,579 genes from Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
## Testing for gene overlap with: Neurospora crassa
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: Neurospora crassa
## 1 organism identified from search: 5141
## Gene table with 5,807 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 5,807 genes from Neurospora crassa.
## Testing for gene overlap with: Caenorhabditis elegans
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: Caenorhabditis elegans
## 1 organism identified from search: 6239
## Gene table with 7,575 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 7,575 genes from Caenorhabditis elegans.
## Testing for gene overlap with: Anopheles gambiae
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: Anopheles gambiae
## 1 organism identified from search: 7165
## Gene table with 8,428 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 8,428 genes from Anopheles gambiae.
## Testing for gene overlap with: Drosophila melanogaster
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: Drosophila melanogaster
## 1 organism identified from search: 7227
## Gene table with 8,438 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 8,438 genes from Drosophila melanogaster.
## Testing for gene overlap with: Danio rerio
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: Danio rerio
## 1 organism identified from search: 7955
## Gene table with 20,897 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 20,897 genes from Danio rerio.
## Testing for gene overlap with: Xenopus (Silurana) tropicalis
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: Xenopus (Silurana) tropicalis
## 1 organism identified from search: 8364
## Gene table with 18,446 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 18,446 genes from Xenopus (Silurana) tropicalis.
## Testing for gene overlap with: Gallus gallus
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: Gallus gallus
## 1 organism identified from search: 9031
## Gene table with 14,600 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 14,600 genes from Gallus gallus.
## Testing for gene overlap with: Macaca mulatta
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: Macaca mulatta
## 1 organism identified from search: 9544
## Gene table with 16,843 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 16,843 genes from Macaca mulatta.
## Testing for gene overlap with: Pan troglodytes
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: Pan troglodytes
## 1 organism identified from search: 9598
## Gene table with 18,730 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 18,730 genes from Pan troglodytes.
## Testing for gene overlap with: Homo sapiens
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: Homo sapiens
## 1 organism identified from search: 9606
## Gene table with 19,129 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 19,129 genes from Homo sapiens.
## Testing for gene overlap with: Canis lupus familiaris
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: Canis lupus familiaris
## 1 organism identified from search: 9615
## Gene table with 18,117 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 18,117 genes from Canis lupus familiaris.
## Testing for gene overlap with: Bos taurus
## Retrieving all genes using: homologene.
## Retrieving all organisms available in homologene.
## Mapping species name: Bos taurus
## 1 organism identified from search: 9913
## Gene table with 18,797 rows retrieved.
## Returning all 18,797 genes from Bos taurus.
## Top match:
##   - species: Homo sapiens 
##   - percent_match: 100%

5 Session Info

utils::sessionInfo()
## R version 4.5.1 Patched (2025-08-23 r88802)
## Platform: x86_64-pc-linux-gnu
## Running under: Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS
## 
## Matrix products: default
## BLAS:   /home/biocbuild/bbs-3.22-bioc/R/lib/libRblas.so 
## LAPACK: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/lapack/liblapack.so.3.12.0  LAPACK version 3.12.0
## 
## locale:
##  [1] LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8       LC_NUMERIC=C              
##  [3] LC_TIME=en_GB              LC_COLLATE=C              
##  [5] LC_MONETARY=en_US.UTF-8    LC_MESSAGES=en_US.UTF-8   
##  [7] LC_PAPER=en_US.UTF-8       LC_NAME=C                 
##  [9] LC_ADDRESS=C               LC_TELEPHONE=C            
## [11] LC_MEASUREMENT=en_US.UTF-8 LC_IDENTIFICATION=C       
## 
## time zone: America/New_York
## tzcode source: system (glibc)
## 
## attached base packages:
## [1] stats     graphics  grDevices utils     datasets  methods   base     
## 
## other attached packages:
## [1] orthogene_1.16.0 BiocStyle_2.38.0
## 
## loaded via a namespace (and not attached):
##  [1] gtable_0.3.6              babelgene_22.9           
##  [3] xfun_0.54                 bslib_0.9.0              
##  [5] ggplot2_4.0.0             htmlwidgets_1.6.4        
##  [7] rstatix_0.7.3             lattice_0.22-7           
##  [9] vctrs_0.6.5               tools_4.5.1              
## [11] generics_0.1.4            yulab.utils_0.2.1        
## [13] parallel_4.5.1            tibble_3.3.0             
## [15] pkgconfig_2.0.3           Matrix_1.7-4             
## [17] data.table_1.17.8         homologene_1.4.68.19.3.27
## [19] ggplotify_0.1.3           RColorBrewer_1.1-3       
## [21] S7_0.2.0                  lifecycle_1.0.4          
## [23] compiler_4.5.1            farver_2.1.2             
## [25] treeio_1.34.0             tinytex_0.57             
## [27] carData_3.0-5             ggtree_4.0.1             
## [29] gprofiler2_0.2.3          fontLiberation_0.1.0     
## [31] fontquiver_0.2.1          ggfun_0.2.0              
## [33] htmltools_0.5.8.1         sass_0.4.10              
## [35] yaml_2.3.10               lazyeval_0.2.2           
## [37] plotly_4.11.0             Formula_1.2-5            
## [39] pillar_1.11.1             car_3.1-3                
## [41] ggpubr_0.6.2              jquerylib_0.1.4          
## [43] tidyr_1.3.1               cachem_1.1.0             
## [45] grr_0.9.5                 magick_2.9.0             
## [47] abind_1.4-8               fontBitstreamVera_0.1.1  
## [49] nlme_3.1-168              tidyselect_1.2.1         
## [51] aplot_0.2.9               digest_0.6.37            
## [53] dplyr_1.1.4               purrr_1.1.0              
## [55] bookdown_0.45             labeling_0.4.3           
## [57] fastmap_1.2.0             grid_4.5.1               
## [59] cli_3.6.5                 magrittr_2.0.4           
## [61] patchwork_1.3.2           dichromat_2.0-0.1        
## [63] broom_1.0.10              ape_5.8-1                
## [65] withr_3.0.2               gdtools_0.4.4            
## [67] scales_1.4.0              backports_1.5.0          
## [69] rappdirs_0.3.3            httr_1.4.7               
## [71] rmarkdown_2.30            ggsignif_0.6.4           
## [73] evaluate_1.0.5            knitr_1.50               
## [75] viridisLite_0.4.2         gridGraphics_0.5-1       
## [77] rlang_1.1.6               ggiraph_0.9.2            
## [79] Rcpp_1.1.0                glue_1.8.0               
## [81] tidytree_0.4.6            BiocManager_1.30.26      
## [83] jsonlite_2.0.0            R6_2.6.1                 
## [85] systemfonts_1.3.1         fs_1.6.6