Branching structures Design Pattern
- Status: Early draft
- Document Type: ontology_design_pattern
Many anatomical structures form branching or networked structures: arteries, veins, nerves, the pulmonary tract and other branches off the main gut tract. Sometimes there is confusion as to whether a term "X nerve" refers to an entire branching tree or to the main trunk of that tree.
This design pattern is designed for structures in animals. It is also suitable for actual branches in plants, as well as geographical entities such as rivers. Indeed much of the terminology is shared between these domains ("tributaries" etc).
Note: new relations added in v2016-08-24 of RO
Hierarchy:
-
RO:0002375 ! in branching relationship with
- RO:0002252 ! connecting branch of
- RO:0002253 ! has connecting branch
-
RO:0002377 ! distributary of
- RO:0002378 ! anabranch of
- RO:0002380 ! branching part of
- RO:0002381 ! main stem of
- RO:0002569 ! has branching part
Visual depiction of formal representation:
Note: documentation is ongoing
See #170
TODO