Organelle DB: a cross-species database of protein localization and function

To efficiently utilize the growing body of available protein localization data, we have developed Organelle DB, a web-accessible database cataloging more than 25 000 proteins from nearly 60 organelles, subcellular structures and protein complexes in 154 organisms spanning the eukaryotic kingdom. Organelle DB is the first on-line resource devoted to the identification and presentation of eukaryotic proteins localized to organelles and subcellular structures. As such, Organelle DB is a strong resource of data from the human proteome as well as from the major model organisms Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Arabidopsis thaliana, Drosophila melanogaster, Caenorhabditis elegans and Mus musculus. In particular, Organelle DB is a central repository of yeast data, incorporating results—and actual fluorescent images—from ongoing large-scale studies of protein localization in S.cerevisiae. Each protein in Organelle DB is presented with its sequence and, as available, a detailed description of its function; functions were extracted from relevant model organism databases, and links to these databases are provided within Organelle DB. To facilitate data interoperability, we have annotated all protein localizations using vocabulary from the Gene Ontology consortium. We also welcome new data for inclusion in Organelle DB, which may be freely accessed at http://organelledb.lsi.umich.edu.