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Our first community contributions and collaborations of 2026
Apr 9, 2026

Quarterly User Update (January – March 2026)

This community update covers our 2026 activities and events from January through March – covering announcements and highlights; and celebrating accomplishments from our team, users, and collaborators.

Community Highlights

Our latest stories about the KBase community cover new resources available on the platform to how KBase is used across the globe. This quarter’s highlights include Fulbright Fellow Maureen Morrow (https://www.kbase.us/news/maureen-morrow/) sharing her contributions to training future researchers, Elizabeth McDaniel (https://www.kbase.us/news/elizabeth_mcdaniel/) on the newly-released fermented foods database, and Rian Pierneef (https://www.kbase.us/news/rian-pierneef/) on running champion-driven workshops across Africa that use KBase. 

If you are interested in a KBase Highlight on your work or projects, email us at engage@kbase.us.

Platform Updates

The first version of the JGI-KBase Data Transfer Service (DTS) can be used to push IMG genomes from JGI to KBase for further analysis. Details and a demonstration on how to use the DTS can be found here: https://www.kbase.us/news/jgi-kbase-dts/. 

KBase Publications

The platform and team behind KBase continues to support users to analyze their data and follow the FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable) data principles through to publication. Studies published this quarter included:

  • Developing a KBase-specific resource for metabolic modeling of neutrophilic iron-oxidizing bacteria  (Tothero et al. 2026).
  • Characterization of novel Nitrobacter vulgaris strain MLSD-S22 isolated from a nitrate- and heavy-metal-contaminated subsurface environment with a complete genome and plasmids capable of nitrous oxide reduction (Flinkstrom et al. 2026).
  • Insights and hypotheses from metagenomic characterization of agricultural microbial inoculant “Jeevamrit” (Jain et al. 2026).

All publications using KBase are available at: https://www.kbase.us/research. If we are missing your publication citing KBase in your methods, please let us know at engage@kbase.us.

New KBase Citation!

There is a new publication to cite for KBase! You can now include the following when referencing KBase in your methods: 

E.M. Wood-Charlson, C. S. Henry, P. S. Dehal, G. Mahmud, B. H. Allen, K. Beilsmith, D. D. Blair, S. Canon, M. Cashman, D. Chivian, R. Cottingham, Z. Crockett, E. G. Dow, M. Drake, J. N. Edirisinghe, J.P. Faria, A. Freiburger, T. Gu, P. Gupta, A.J. Ireland, S. Jungbluth, R. Kamimura, K. Keller, A. Khan, D. Kishore, D. Klos, F. Liu, D. Lyon, C. Neely, K.L. O’Grady, G. Price, P. Ranjan, W.J. Riehl, B. Sadkhin, S. Seaver, G.A. Terry, Y. Wang, P. Weisenhorn, Z. Yang, S. Yoo, A.P. Arkin. “KBase: Open-source Platform for Collaborative Biological Data Analysis and Publication.” Journal of Molecular Biology (2026) 169676. [doi: 10.1016/j.jmb.2026.169676]

Summary

To close out our update, we have our platform 2025 Performance Metrics Report and below is a graphical summary documenting our Q1 January – March  2026 user numbers. Keep doing great science in KBase. Remember, the KBase team is here to support you!

Statistics for KBase from January through March 2026. New User Accounts grew by 2578 for a total of 54500. User Narratives grew by 3637 for a total of 131100. User data grew by 69.5 terabytes for a total of 1477 terabytes. Public data grew by 221 gigabytes to 24.7 terabytes total. There were 43 new publications citing KBase for 928 publications since 2014. KBase.us had 60000 site visits with 25000 new visitors and 17100 active users. The Help Board closed 9 questions, has 5 open questions, 6 open bugs and closed 13 bugs. YouTube had 3600 views and 25 new subscribers for 1570 total. LinkedIn had 2700 impressions with 34 visitors and 597 followers.

About the Authors

Ellen Dow
Ellen Dow
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Ben Allen
Ben Allen
Ellen Dow
Ellen Dow
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Ellen G. Dow, Ph.D. leads the KBase Educators Program as part of the User Engagement team. Inspired by her involvement in science outreach throughout graduate school, she left the bench to gain experience in informal education and cultivate community engagement from public to science sectors. A molecular biologist by training, Ellen applies her research experience to support emerging scientists and co-developing community resources. 

Ben Allen
Ben Allen

Ben Allen coordinates outreach and user development activities to build the KBase user community while engaging in scientific collaborations to advance the use of the platform. His background in biochemistry and science education helps him develop protocols and training materials that provide depth while being accessible to a wide audience. Research interests include systems biology, microbial ecology, bioremediation studies, and biology education.

DOE Systems Biology Knowledgebase
DOEKBase
engage@kbase.us
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