# Loading Greengenes tree in iTOL

**URL:** https://forum.qiime2.org/t/loading-greengenes-tree-in-itol/2319
**Category:** User Support
**Tags:** itol, greengenes, tree
**Created:** [December 24, 2017, 6:28pm UTC](https://forum.qiime2.org/t/loading-greengenes-tree-in-itol/2319 "2017-12-24T18:28:21Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 3

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### Author: ![thermokarst](https://forum.qiime2.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/8e7dd6/32.png) [@thermokarst](https://forum.qiime2.org/u/thermokarst)
#### Post date: [December 27, 2017, 4:20pm UTC](https://forum.qiime2.org/t/loading-greengenes-tree-in-itol/2319/3 "2017-12-27T16:20:32Z")

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Hi @Richard_Rodrigues!

> [@Richard\_Rodrigues](#):
>
> Adding an external annotation file only shows Archaea, possibly due to limit on tips as someone mentioned above

We can't really provide support for ITOL, since we don't develop it, but, they have [pretty nice docs](https://itol.embl.de/help.cgi#annot) that demonstrate how to prepare you annotation file.

Using the Moving Pictures dataset, I prepared a phylogenetic tree, with taxonomic annotations, for viewing in ITOL using the following procedure:

1. Export QIIME 2 Artifacts

```bash
$ qiime tools export rooted-tree.qza --output-dir .
$ qiime tools export taxonomy.qza --output-dir .
$ ls
rooted-tree.qza taxonomy.qza taxonomy.tsv tree.nwk

```

1. Prepare annotation file (note, these commands use macOS `sed` --- if you are on a Linux machine you will need to adjust appropriately - you can also use MS Excel or LibreOffice to make this file)

```bash
$ echo $'LABELS\nSEPARATOR TAB\nDATA' > taxonomy.txt
$ sed "1d" taxonomy.tsv | cut -f1,2 >> taxonomy.txt

```

Here is what that file looks like after preparing it following the ITOL docs: [taxonomy.txt](https://cdck-file-uploads-global.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/flex002/uploads/qiime21/original/1X/3fc4d77bcbfa80e48c17d7ba6eb62e5f2e5e2d91.txt) (97.8 KB)

1. Load the NWK file in ITOL, then add the annotation (`taxonomy.txt`) by dragging-and-dropping onto the rendered tree graphic:  
 ![34 AM](https://forum-qiime2-org.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/original/1X/822bc88052b1a43ed0085740b4563ba50505a8e3.jpg)

As I mentioned above, we can't really provide support for ITOL, but hopefully this is enough to get you started!

* * *

> [@Richard\_Rodrigues](#):
>
> Finally, how can we display bar charts for genus level using the greengenes trees?

The `taxa barplots` visualization includes a drop-down that allows you to select a taxonomic level to view, here is the Moving Pictures tutorial at the genus level:

 ![02 AM](https://forum-qiime2-org.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/original/1X/2da6375277e3a58d12de85b7cd5d2e5cc7f279e1.png)

Please note that the "Taxonomic Level" dropdown is set to "Level 6", which corresponds with the genus level in the Greengenes database.

If you haven't had a chance to work through the [Moving Pictures](https://docs.qiime2.org/2017.12/tutorials/moving-pictures/) tutorial, I would highly recommend working through our [Getting Started](https://docs.qiime2.org/2017.12/getting-started/) guide, which will get you geared up for QIIME 2!

Good luck and keep us posted! 🦖

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