Ensembl Genomes

Ensembl Genomes is a genome data resource focused on non-vertebrate organisms. It aggregates genome sequence assemblies together with structural and functional annotations — gene models, transcripts, and protein features — and publishes them on a regular release cycle (new assemblies appear on a roughly two-week cadence). The resource combines curated annotation with toolsets for exploration and downstream analysis, and maintains release notes and update posts to keep users informed about new assemblies and annotation improvements. At its core, Ensembl Genomes supplies the raw and processed data users need for comparative genomics, functional genomics and annotation-driven workflows. Sequence assemblies are paired with annotation tracks that describe gene locations, exon–intron structure, transcript isoforms and protein features; these annotations make it easy to locate genes of interest, inspect predicted protein domains or exon usage, and export sequence and feature coordinates for downstream analysis. The frequent release schedule helps ensure that newly submitted genomes and assembly updates are made available rapidly to the community. Beyond data, the platform offers tools for visualisation and manipulation of genomic features. Users can inspect chromosomes or scaffolds in a genome browser-style view, zoom into individual gene models, and overlay additional annotation tracks to compare alternative models or experimental data. Built-in search and navigation simplifies jumping from gene names to genomic context and from features to supporting evidence. Export options let researchers retrieve sequences, gene models (GFF/GTF), and annotation tables for use in local pipelines and analysis software. Typical use cases include: annotating genes in a newly sequenced non-vertebrate genome by comparison to published models; extracting coding sequences and protein translations for phylogenetic or domain analyses; exploring structural variation or gene presence/absence across related species; and preparing genome annotation packages for submission to community databases. The resource is also well suited to educational and exploratory work — for example, quickly locating orthologues of a gene across several non-vertebrate organisms or visualising transcript structure for experimental planning. Ensembl Genomes is designed to fit into bioinformatics workflows. Data and annotation files can be downloaded in standard formats for integration with local tools and pipelines, and the site provides documentation and release notes to help users track changes across updates. The combination of frequent releases, curated gene and protein features, and interactive visualization makes the resource a practical hub for researchers working across plants, fungi, protists, bacteria and invertebrates who need reliable, up-to-date non-vertebrate genome data. Whether you are building custom comparative analyses, preparing sequence-based functional predictions, or simply exploring gene structure and annotation evidence, Ensembl Genomes supplies the foundational assemblies, feature annotations and visualization tools to support discovery and reproducible analysis in non-vertebrate genomics.