HBVRegDB: Annotation, comparison, detection and visualization of regulatory elements in hepatitis B virus sequences

BACKGROUND: The many Hepadnaviridae sequences available have widely varied functional annotation. The genomes are very compact (~3.2 kb) but contain multiple layers of functional regulatory elements in addition to coding regions. Key regions are subject to purifying selection, as mutations in these regions will produce non-functional viruses. RESULTS: These genomic sequences have been organized into a structured database to facilitate research at the molecular level. HBVRegDB is a comparative genomic analysis tool with an integrated underlying sequence database. The database contains genomic sequence data from representative viruses. In addition to INSDC and RefSeq annotation, HBVRegDB also contains expert and systematically calculated annotations (e.g. promoters) and comparative genome analysis results (e.g. blastn, tblastx). It also contains analyses based on curated HBV alignments. Information about conserved regions – including primary conservation (e.g. CDS-Plotcon) and RNA secondary structure predictions (e.g. Alidot) – is integrated into the database. A large amount of data is graphically presented using the GBrowse (Generic Genome Browser) adapted for analysis of viral genomes. Flexible query access is provided based on any annotated genomic feature. Novel regulatory motifs can be found by analysing the annotated sequences. CONCLUSION: HBVRegDB serves as a knowledge database and as a comparative genomic analysis tool for molecular biologists investigating HBV. It is publicly available and complementary to other viral and HBV focused datasets and tools . The availability of multiple and highly annotated sequences of viral genomes in one database combined with comparative analysis tools facilitates detection of novel genomic elements.