RegulonDB (version 5.0): Escherichia coli K-12 transcriptional regulatory network, operon organization, and growth conditions

RegulonDB is the internationally recognized reference database of Escherichia coli K-12 offering curated knowledge of the regulatory network and operon organization. It is currently the largest electronically-encoded database of the regulatory network of any free-living organism. We present here the recently launched RegulonDB version 5.0 radically different in content, interface design and capabilities. Continuous curation of original scientific literature provides the evidence behind every single object and feature. This knowledge is complemented with comprehensive computational predictions across the complete genome. Literature-based and predicted data are clearly distinguished in the database. Starting with this version, RegulonDB public releases are synchronized with those of EcoCyc since our curation supports both databases. The complex biology of regulation is simplified in a navigation scheme based on three major streams: genes, operons and regulons. Regulatory knowledge is directly available in every navigation step. Displays combine graphic and textual information and are organized allowing different levels of detail and biological context. This knowledge is the backbone of an integrated system for the graphic display of the network, graphic and tabular microarray comparisons with curated and predicted objects, as well as predictions across bacterial genomes, and predicted networks of functionally related gene products. Access RegulonDB at

EcoCyc: fusing model organism databases with systems biology.

EcoCyc (http://EcoCyc.org) is a model organism database built on the genome sequence of Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655. Expert manual curation of the functions of individual E. coli gene products in EcoCyc has been based on information found in the experimental literature for E. coli K-12-derived strains. Updates to EcoCyc content continue to improve the comprehensive picture of E. coli biology. The utility of EcoCyc is enhanced by new tools available on the EcoCyc web site, and the development of EcoCyc as a teaching tool is increasing the impact of the knowledge collected in EcoCyc

Bioinformatics in Latin America and SoIBio impact, a tale of spin-off and expansion around genomes and protein structures

Owing to the emerging impact of bioinformatics and computational biology, in this article, we present an overview of the history and current state of the research on this field in Latin America (LA). It will be difficult to cover without inequality all the efforts, initiatives and works that have happened for the past two decades in this vast region (that includes >19 million km2 and >600 million people). Despite the difficulty, we have done an analytical search looking for publications in the field made by researchers from 19 LA countries in the past 25 years. In this way, we find that research in bioinformatics in this region should develop twice to approach the average world scientific production in the field. We also found some of the pioneering scientists who initiated and led bioinformatics in the region and were promoters of this new scientific field. Our analysis also reveals that spin-off began around some specific areas within the biomolecular sciences: studies on genomes (anchored in the new generation of deep sequencing technologies, followed by developments in proteomics) and studies on protein structures (supported by three-dimensional structural determination technologies and their computational advancement). Finally, we show that the contribution to this endeavour of the Iberoamerican Society for Bioinformatics, founded in Mexico in 2009, has been significant, as it is a leading forum to join efforts of many scientists from LA interested in promoting research, training and education in bioinformatics.The publication charges for this article were funded by the research grant PI15/00328, given by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCiii, MINECO, Spain) and co-funded by the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER, Europe)

Sensory systems and transcriptional regulation in escherichia coli

In free-living bacteria, the ability to regulate gene expression is at the core of adapting and interacting with the environment. For these systems to have a logic, a signal must trigger a genetic change that helps the cell to deal with what implies its presence in the environment; briefly, the response is expected to include a feedback to the signal. Thus, it makes sense to think of genetic sensory mechanisms of gene regulation. Escherichia coli K-12 is the bacterium model for which the largest number of regulatory systems and its sensing capabilities have been studied in detail at the molecular level. In this special issue focused on biomolecular sensing systems, we offer an overview of the transcriptional regulatory corpus of knowledge for E. coli that has been gathered in our database, RegulonDB, from the perspective of sensing regulatory systems. Thus, we start with the beginning of the information flux, which is the signal's chemical or physical elements detected by the cell as changes in the environment; these signals are internally transduced to transcription factors and alter their conformation. Signals transduced to effectors bind allosterically to transcription factors, and this defines the dominant sensing mechanism in E. coli. We offer an updated list of the repertoire of known allosteric effectors, as well as a list of the currently known different mechanisms of this sensing capability. Our previous definition of elementary genetic sensory-response units, GENSOR units for short, that integrate signals, transport, gene regulation, and the biochemical response of the regulated gene products of a given transcriptional factor fit perfectly with the purpose of this overview. We summarize the functional heterogeneity of their response, based on our updated collection of GENSORs, and we use them to identify the expected feedback as part of their response. Finally, we address the question of multiple sensing in the regulatory network of E. coli. This overview introduces the architecture of sensing and regulation of native components in E.coli K-12, which might be a source of inspiration to bioengineering applications.Funding for this work came from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and by NIGMS-NIH grant numbers 5RO1GM131643 and 2R01GM077678. Funding for open access publication fees comes from NIGMS-NIH grant 5RO1GM131643. We acknowledge funding from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and by NIGMS-NIH grant numbers 5RO1GM131643 and 2R01GM07767

RegulonDB (version 3.2): transcriptional regulation and operon organization in Escherichia coli K-12

RegulonDB is a database on mechanisms of transcription regulation and operon organization in Escherichia coli K-12. The current version has considerably increased numbers of regulatory elements such as promoters, binding sites and terminators. The complete repertoire of known and predicted DNA-binding transcriptional regulators can be considered to be included in this version. The database now distinguishes different allosteric conformations of regulatory proteins indicating the one active in binding and regulating the different promoters. A new set of operon predictions has been incorporated. The relational design has been modified accordingly. Furthermore, a major improvement is a graphic display enabling browsing of the database with a Java-based graphic user interface with three zoom-levels connected to properties of each chromo­somal element. The purpose of these modifications is to make RegulonDB a useful tool and control set for tran­scriptome experiments. RegulonDB can be accessed on the web at the URL: http://www.cifn.unam.mx/Computational_Biology/regulondb

RegulonDB (version 4.0): transcriptional regulation, operon organization and growth conditions in Escherichia coli K-12

RegulonDB is the primary database of the major international maintained curation of original literature with experimental knowledge about the elements and interactions of the network of transcriptional regulation in Escherichia coli K-12. This includes mechanistic information about operon organization and their decomposition into transcription units (TUs), promoters and their σ type, binding sites of specific transcriptional regulators (TRs), their organization into ‘regulatory phrases’, active and inactive conformations of TRs, as well as terminators and ribosome binding sites. The database is complemented with clearly marked computational predictions of TUs, promoters and binding sites of TRs. The current version has been expanded to include information beyond specific mechanisms aimed at gathering different growth conditions and the associated induced and/or repressed genes. RegulonDB is now linked with Swiss-Prot, with microarray databases, and with a suite of programs to analyze and visualize microarray experiments. We provide a summary of the biological knowledge contained in RegulonDB and describe the major changes in the design of the database. RegulonDB can be accessed on the web at the URL: http://www.cifn.unam.mx/Computational_Biology/regulondb/

RegulonDB (version 6.0): gene regulation model

of Escherichia coli K-12 beyond transcription, active (experimental) annotated promoters and Textpresso navigatio

RegulonDB (version 5.0): Escherichia coli K-12 transcriptional regulatory network, operon organization, and growth conditions

<p>RegulonDB is the internationally recognized reference database of Escherichia coli K-12 offering curated knowledge of the regulatory network and operon organization.</p