Database Commons

a catalog of worldwide biological databases

Comparasite is a database for comparative studies of transcriptomes of parasites. In this database, each data is defined by the full-length cDNAs from various apicomplexan parasites. It integrates seven individual databases, Full-Parasites, consisting of numerous full-length cDNA clones that we have produced and sequenced: 12,484 cDNA sequences from Plasmodium falciparum, 11,262 from Plasmodium yoelii, 9633 from Plasmodium vivax, 1518 from Plasmodium berghei, 7400 from Toxoplasma gondii, 5921 from Cryptosporidium parvum and 10,966 from the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis. Putatively counterpart gene groups are clustered and comparative analysis of any combination of six apicomplexa species is implemented, such as interspecies comparisons regarding protein motifs (InterPro), predicted subcellular localization signals (PSORT), transmembrane regions (SOSUI) or upstream promoter elements. By specifying keywords and other search conditions, Comparasite retrieves putative counterpart gene groups containing a given feature in common or in a species-specific manner. By enabling multi-faceted comparative analyses of genes of apicomplexa protozoa, monophyletic organisms that have evolved to diversify to parasitize various hosts by adopting complex life cycles, Comparasite should help elucidate the mechanism behind parasitism. Our full-length cDNA databases and Comparasite are accessible from http://fullmal.ims.u-tokyo.ac.jp.

Full-malaria (http://fullmal.ims.u-tokyo.ac.jp), a database for full-length cDNAs from the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum has been updated in at least three points. (i) We added 8934 sequences generated from the addition of new libraries, so that our collection of 11,424 full-length cDNAs covers 1375 (25%) of the estimated number of the entire 5409 parasite genes. (ii) All of our full-length cDNAs and GenBank EST sequences were mapped to genomic sequences together with publicly available annotated genes and other predictions. This precisely determined the gene structures and positions of the transcriptional start sites, which are indispensable for the identification of the promoter regions. (iii) A total of 4257 cDNA sequences were newly generated from murine malaria parasites, Plasmodium yoelii yoelii. The genome/cDNA sequences were compared at both nucleotide and amino acid levels, with those of P.falciparum, and the sequence alignment for each gene is presented graphically. This part of the database serves as a versatile platform to elucidate the function(s) of malaria genes by a comparative genomic approach. It should also be noted that all of the cDNAs represented in this database are supported by physical cDNA clones, which are publicly and freely available, and should serve as indispensable resources to explore functional analyses of malaria genomes.