We discuss in this article the creation and organization of a national core facility for bioimage analysis, based on a distributed team. F-BIAS federates bioimage analysts across France and relies on them to deliver services to the researchers of this territory. The main challenge in implementing this structure is to ensure significant scientific value to the analysts, thereby encouraging their active participation and persuading their respective host teams to support their involvement. F-BIAS accomplished this by creating a professional network that mitigates the negative effects of isolation experienced by its members, who are often the sole bioimage analyst within their local teams, and fosters the development of their technical skills. In a second phase we capitalized on F-BIAS to create a virtual, remotely-operating core facility for bioimage analysis, offering consultations and collaborative project services to the scientific community of France. The services are organized so that they also contribute to the technical proficiency of the analysts. To promote the creation of similar structures, we present and discuss here the organization of this nationally distributed bioimage analysis service core, highlighting successes and challenges.

MOTIVATION: During development, progenitor cells undergo multiple rounds of cellular divisions during which transcriptional programs must be faithfully propagated. Investigating the timing of transcriptional activation, which is a highly stochastic phenomenon, requires the analysis of large amounts of data. In order to perform automatic image analysis of transcriptional activation, we developed a software that segments and tracks both small and large objects, leading the user from raw data up to the results in their final form. RESULTS: MitoTrack is a user-friendly open-access integrated software that performs the specific dual task of reporting the precise timing of transcriptional activation while keeping lineage tree history for each nucleus of a living developing embryo. The software works automatically but provides the possibility to easily supervise, correct and validate each step. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: MitoTrack is an open source Python software, embedded within a graphical user interface (download here). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.