GOBASE: an organelle genome database

The organelle genome database GOBASE, now in its 21st release (June 2008), contains all published mitochondrion-encoded sequences (∼913 000) and chloroplast-encoded sequences (∼250 000) from a wide range of eukaryotic taxa. For all sequences, information on related genes, exons, introns, gene products and taxonomy is available, as well as selected genome maps and RNA secondary structures. Recent major enhancements to database functionality include: (i) addition of an interface for RNA editing data, with substitutions, insertions and deletions displayed using multiple alignments; (ii) addition of medically relevant information, such as haplotypes, SNPs and associated disease states, to human mitochondrial sequence data; (iii) addition of fully reannotated genome sequences for Escherichia coli and Nostoc sp., for reference and comparison; and (iv) a number of interface enhancements, such as the availability of both genomic and gene-coding sequence downloads, and a more sophisticated literature reference search functionality with links to PubMed where available. Future projects include the transfer of GOBASE features to NCBI/GenBank, allowing long-term preservation of accumulated expert information. The GOBASE database can be found at http://gobase.bcm.umontreal.ca/. Queries about custom and large-scale data retrievals should be addressed to gobase@bch.umontreal.ca.