RegulonDB (version 5.0): Escherichia coli K-12 transcriptional regulatory network, operon organization, and growth conditions.

RegulonDB is the internationally recognized reference database of Escherichia coli K-12 offering curated knowledge of the regulatory network and operon organization. It is currently the largest electronically-encoded database of the regulatory network of any free-living organism. We present here the recently launched RegulonDB version 5.0 radically different in content, interface design and capabilities. Continuous curation of original scientific literature provides the evidence behind every single object and feature. This knowledge is complemented with comprehensive computational predictions across the complete genome. Literature-based and predicted data are clearly distinguished in the database. Starting with this version, RegulonDB public releases are synchronized with those of EcoCyc since our curation supports both databases. The complex biology of regulation is simplified in a navigation scheme based on three major streams: genes, operons and regulons. Regulatory knowledge is directly available in every navigation step. Displays combine graphic and textual information and are organized allowing different levels of detail and biological context. This knowledge is the backbone of an integrated system for the graphic display of the network, graphic and tabular microarray comparisons with curated and predicted objects, as well as predictions across bacterial genomes, and predicted networks of functionally related gene products. Access RegulonDB at http://regulondb.ccg.unam.mx.

RegulonDB (version 4.0): transcriptional regulation, operon organization and growth conditions in Escherichia coli K-12.

RegulonDB is the primary database of the major international maintained curation of original literature with experimental knowledge about the elements and interactions of the network of transcriptional regulation in Escherichia coli K-12. This includes mechanistic information about operon organization and their decomposition into transcription units (TUs), promoters and their sigma type, binding sites of specific transcriptional regulators (TRs), their organization into 'regulatory phrases', active and inactive conformations of TRs, as well as terminators and ribosome binding sites. The database is complemented with clearly marked computational predictions of TUs, promoters and binding sites of TRs. The current version has been expanded to include information beyond specific mechanisms aimed at gathering different growth conditions and the associated induced and/or repressed genes. RegulonDB is now linked with Swiss-Prot, with microarray databases, and with a suite of programs to analyze and visualize microarray experiments. We provide a summary of the biological knowledge contained in RegulonDB and describe the major changes in the design of the database. RegulonDB can be accessed on the web at the URL: http://www.cifn.unam.mx/Computational_Biology/regulondb/.