Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

BACKGROUND: Bacterial typing schemes based on the sequences of genes encoding surface antigens require databases that provide a uniform, curated, and widely accepted nomenclature of the variants identified. Due to the differences in typing schemes, imposed by the diversity of genes targeted, creating these databases has typically required the writing of one-off code to link the database to a web interface. Here we describe agdbNet, widely applicable web database software that facilitates simultaneous BLAST querying of multiple loci using either nucleotide or peptide sequences. RESULTS: Databases are described by XML files that are parsed by a Perl CGI script. Each database can have any number of loci, which may be defined by nucleotide and/or peptide sequences. The software is currently in use on at least five public databases for the typing of Neisseria meningitidis, Campylobacter jejuni and Streptococcus equi and can be set up to query internal isolate tables or suitably-configured external isolate databases, such as those used for multilocus sequence typing. The style of the resulting website can be fully configured by modifying stylesheets and through the use of customised header and footer files that surround the output of the script. CONCLUSION: The software provides a rapid means of setting up customised Internet antigen sequence databases. The flexible configuration options enable typing schemes with differing requirements to be accommodated.

Original publication

DOI

10.1186/1471-2105-7-314

Type

Journal article

Journal

BMC Bioinformatics

Publication Date

21/06/2006

Volume

7

Keywords

Algorithms, Bacterial Typing Techniques, Campylobacter jejuni, Computational Biology, Databases, Genetic, Databases, Protein, Internet, Neisseria meningitidis, Peptides, Programming Languages, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Software, Streptococcus equi, User-Computer Interface