AluGene: a database of Alu elements incorporated within protein-coding genes.
Alu elements are short interspersed elements (SINEs) approximately 300 nucleotides in length. More than 1 million Alus are found in the human genome. Despite their being genetically functionless, recent findings suggest that Alu elements may have a broad evolutionary impact by affecting gene structures, protein sequences, splicing motifs and expression patterns. Because of these effects, compiling a genomic database of Alu sequences that reside within protein-coding genes seemed a useful enterprise. Presently, such data are limited since the structural and positional information on genes and Alu sequences are scattered throughout incompatible and unconnected databases. AluGene (http://Alugene.tau.ac.il/) provides easy access to a complete Alu map of the human genome, as well as Alu-associated information. The Alu elements are annotated with respect to coding region and exon/intron location. This design facilitates queries on Alu sequences, locations, as well as motifs and compositional properties via a one-stop search page.
Dagan
Tal
T
Department of Zoology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 69978, Israel. tali@kimura.tau.ac.il
Sorek
Rotem
R
Sharon
Eilon
E
Ast
Gil
G
Graur
Dan
D
D020087:Alu Elements / Q000235:genetics*; D001482:Base Composition; D001483:Base Sequence; D019295:Computational Biology; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D005091:Exons / Q000235:genetics; D005796:Genes / Q000235:genetics*; D015894:Genome, Human; D023281:Genomics; D006801:Humans; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval; D020407:Internet; D007438:Introns / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D022821:RNA Splice Sites / Q000235:genetics; D012984:Software
D011506:Proteins; D022821:RNA Splice Sites