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Bio Expression Matrix Metadata Joins

  • 4 installs
  • 1.1k repo stars
  • Updated July 25, 2026
  • gptomics/bioskills

Merge sample metadata with count matrices and add gene annotations using pandas to prepare data for differential expression or visualization.

About

Joins sample metadata with count matrices and adds gene annotations using pandas. A developer uses it when assembling analysis-ready tables for differential expression or plotting.

  • Merge sample metadata with count matrices
  • Add gene annotations for downstream analysis

Bio Expression Matrix Metadata Joins by the numbers

  • 4 all-time installs (skills.sh)
  • Ranked #1,625 of 2,064 Data Science & ML skills by installs in the Skillselion catalog
  • Data as of Aug 5, 2026 (Skillselion catalog sync)
npx skills add https://github.com/gptomics/bioskills --skill bio-expression-matrix-metadata-joins

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Listed on Skillselion
Installs4
repo stars1.1k
Last updatedJuly 25, 2026
Repositorygptomics/bioskills

What it does

Merge sample metadata with count matrices and add gene annotations using pandas to prepare data for differential expression or visualization.

Files

SKILL.mdMarkdownGitHub ↗

Metadata Joins

Load Sample Metadata

import pandas as pd

# Load metadata
metadata = pd.read_csv('sample_info.csv', index_col=0)

# Metadata should have samples as rows, attributes as columns
# Index should match count matrix column names

Basic Join

import pandas as pd

# Count matrix: genes x samples
counts = pd.read_csv('counts.tsv', sep='\t', index_col=0)

# Metadata: samples x attributes
metadata = pd.read_csv('metadata.csv', index_col=0)

# Ensure sample order matches
common_samples = counts.columns.intersection(metadata.index)
counts = counts[common_samples]
metadata = metadata.loc[common_samples]

# Verify alignment
assert all(counts.columns == metadata.index)

Handle Sample Name Mismatches

def harmonize_sample_names(counts, metadata):
    '''Match sample names between counts and metadata.'''
    count_samples = set(counts.columns)
    meta_samples = set(metadata.index)

    common = count_samples & meta_samples
    only_counts = count_samples - meta_samples
    only_meta = meta_samples - count_samples

    if only_counts:
        print(f'Samples in counts but not metadata: {only_counts}')
    if only_meta:
        print(f'Samples in metadata but not counts: {only_meta}')

    counts = counts[sorted(common)]
    metadata = metadata.loc[sorted(common)]
    return counts, metadata

counts, metadata = harmonize_sample_names(counts, metadata)

Flexible Sample Name Matching

def fuzzy_match_samples(counts, metadata):
    '''Try to match sample names with common transformations.'''
    count_cols = counts.columns.tolist()
    meta_idx = metadata.index.tolist()

    # Try exact match first
    if set(count_cols) == set(meta_idx):
        return counts, metadata

    # Common transformations
    transformations = [
        lambda x: x.replace('_', '-'),
        lambda x: x.replace('-', '_'),
        lambda x: x.split('_')[0],
        lambda x: x.replace('.bam', ''),
        lambda x: x.upper(),
        lambda x: x.lower(),
    ]

    for transform in transformations:
        transformed = {transform(c): c for c in count_cols}
        matches = {m: transformed[transform(m)] for m in meta_idx if transform(m) in transformed}
        if len(matches) == len(meta_idx):
            print(f'Matched using transformation')
            counts = counts[[matches[m] for m in meta_idx]]
            return counts, metadata

    raise ValueError('Could not match sample names')

Add Gene Annotations

import mygene

def add_gene_annotations(counts, fields=['symbol', 'name', 'type_of_gene']):
    '''Add gene annotation columns to count matrix.'''
    mg = mygene.MyGeneInfo()

    clean_ids = [g.split('.')[0] for g in counts.index]
    results = mg.querymany(clean_ids, scopes='ensembl.gene',
        fields=fields, species='human', as_dataframe=True)

    # Merge annotations
    results = results.reset_index().rename(columns={'query': 'gene_id'})
    counts_reset = counts.reset_index().rename(columns={counts.index.name: 'gene_id'})
    counts_reset['clean_id'] = counts_reset['gene_id'].str.split('.').str[0]

    annotated = counts_reset.merge(
        results[['gene_id'] + fields].drop_duplicates(),
        left_on='clean_id', right_on='gene_id', how='left', suffixes=('', '_anno'))

    annotated = annotated.drop(['clean_id', 'gene_id_anno'], axis=1, errors='ignore')
    annotated = annotated.set_index('gene_id')

    return annotated

R: Create DESeq2 Data

library(DESeq2)

# Load data
counts <- read.delim('counts.tsv', row.names=1)
metadata <- read.csv('metadata.csv', row.names=1)

# Ensure matching samples
common <- intersect(colnames(counts), rownames(metadata))
counts <- counts[, common]
metadata <- metadata[common, , drop=FALSE]

# Create DESeqDataSet
dds <- DESeqDataSetFromMatrix(
    countData=as.matrix(counts),
    colData=metadata,
    design=~condition  # Adjust to your design
)

R: Create edgeR DGEList

library(edgeR)

# Load data
counts <- read.delim('counts.tsv', row.names=1)
metadata <- read.csv('metadata.csv', row.names=1)

# Match samples
common <- intersect(colnames(counts), rownames(metadata))
counts <- counts[, common]
metadata <- metadata[common, , drop=FALSE]

# Create DGEList
y <- DGEList(counts=as.matrix(counts), group=metadata$condition)
y$samples <- cbind(y$samples, metadata)

Create AnnData with Metadata

import anndata as ad
import pandas as pd

def create_annotated_anndata(counts, sample_metadata, gene_metadata=None):
    '''Create AnnData object with full metadata.'''
    # AnnData expects samples as rows
    adata = ad.AnnData(X=counts.T)

    # Add sample metadata (obs)
    adata.obs = sample_metadata.loc[counts.columns].copy()

    # Add gene metadata (var)
    if gene_metadata is not None:
        adata.var = gene_metadata.loc[counts.index].copy()
    else:
        adata.var_names = counts.index

    return adata

# Usage
adata = create_annotated_anndata(counts, metadata)
adata.write_h5ad('annotated_counts.h5ad')

Validate Metadata

def validate_metadata(counts, metadata, required_columns=['condition']):
    '''Check metadata validity.'''
    issues = []

    # Check sample overlap
    count_samples = set(counts.columns)
    meta_samples = set(metadata.index)

    if count_samples != meta_samples:
        missing = count_samples - meta_samples
        extra = meta_samples - count_samples
        if missing:
            issues.append(f'Samples missing metadata: {missing}')
        if extra:
            issues.append(f'Extra metadata samples: {extra}')

    # Check required columns
    for col in required_columns:
        if col not in metadata.columns:
            issues.append(f'Missing required column: {col}')
        elif metadata[col].isna().any():
            n_na = metadata[col].isna().sum()
            issues.append(f'Column {col} has {n_na} missing values')

    if issues:
        for issue in issues:
            print(f'WARNING: {issue}')
        return False

    print('Metadata validation passed')
    return True

Merge Multiple Metadata Files

def merge_metadata_files(files, on='sample_id'):
    '''Merge multiple metadata files.'''
    dfs = [pd.read_csv(f) for f in files]
    merged = dfs[0]
    for df in dfs[1:]:
        merged = merged.merge(df, on=on, how='outer')
    return merged.set_index(on)

# Usage
metadata = merge_metadata_files(['clinical.csv', 'sequencing.csv', 'qc.csv'])

Related Skills

  • expression-matrix/counts-ingest - Load count data
  • expression-matrix/gene-id-mapping - Convert gene IDs
  • differential-expression/deseq2-basics - Downstream analysis
  • single-cell/preprocessing - Single-cell metadata handling

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