Nomenclature of homodetic cyclic peptides produced from ribosomal precursors: An IUPAC task group interim report.

In 2015, an International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) Task Group was formed to develop nomenclature recommendations for homodetic cyclic peptides produced from ribosomal precursors. Delegates of the 2015 International Conference on Circular Proteins (ICCP) were presented with the strengths and weaknesses of four published approaches to homodetic cyclic peptide nomenclature, and a summary of the ensuing discussion is presented here. This interim report presents a potentially novel suggestion-the use of Cahn-Ingold-Prelog rules to specify amino acid priority in homodetic peptides for consistent numbering. Indeed, this might be the first extension of the Cahn-Ingold-Prelog rules in five decades. The authors invite interested parties to contact the corresponding author with suggestions for the improvement of the proposed nomenclature; these ideas will be discussed and considered for inclusion in the final report.

ExplorEnz: a MySQL database of the IUBMB enzyme nomenclature.

BACKGROUND: We describe the database ExplorEnz, which is the primary repository for EC numbers and enzyme data that are being curated on behalf of the IUBMB. The enzyme nomenclature is incorporated into many other resources, including the ExPASy-ENZYME, BRENDA and KEGG bioinformatics databases. DESCRIPTION: The data, which are stored in a MySQL database, preserve the formatting of chemical and enzyme names. A simple, easy to use, web-based query interface is provided, along with an advanced search engine for more complex queries. The database is publicly available at http://www.enzyme-database.org. The data are available for download as SQL and XML files via FTP. CONCLUSION: ExplorEnz has powerful and flexible search capabilities and provides the scientific community with the most up-to-date version of the IUBMB Enzyme List.