title: SpiroESTdb: a transcriptome database and online tool for sparganum expressed sequences tags.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Sparganum (plerocercoid of Spirometra erinacei) is a parasite that possesses the remarkable ability to survive by successfully modifying its physiology and morphology to suit various hosts and can be found in various tissues, even the nervous system. However, surprisingly little is known about the molecular function of genes that are expressed during the course of the parasite life cycle. To begin to decipher the molecular processes underlying gene function, we constructed a database of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) generated from sparganum.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SpiroESTdb is a web-based information resource that is built upon the annotation and curation of 5,655 ESTs data. SpiroESTdb provides an integrated platform for expressed sequence data, expression dynamics, functional genes, genetic markers including single nucleotide polymorphisms and tandem repeats, gene ontology and KEGG pathway information. Moreover, SpiroESTdb supports easy access to gene pages, such as (i) curation and query forms, (ii) in silico expression profiling and (iii) BLAST search tools. Comprehensive descriptions of the sparganum content of all sequenced data are available, including summary reports. The contents of SpiroESTdb can be viewed and downloaded from the web (http://pathod.cdc.go.kr/spiroestdb).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This integrative web-based database of sequence data, functional annotations and expression profiling data will serve as a useful tool to help understand and expand the characterization of parasitic infections. It can also be used to identify potential industrial drug targets and vaccine candidate genes.
authors.affiliation: Division of Malaria and Parasitic Diseases, Korea National Institute of Health, Osong 363-951, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Dae-Won
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Dong-Wook
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Won Gi
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.forename: Seong-Hyeuk
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.forename: Myoung-Ro
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hye-Won
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Junhyung
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Kyooyeol
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sanghyun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Shin-Hyeong
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Won-Ja
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hong-Seog
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jung-Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Ju
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D015870:Gene Expression; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005819:Genetic Markers; D023281:Genomics; D020407:Internet; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013032:Sparganum / Q000235:genetics*; D013146:Spirometra / Q000235:genetics*; D059467:Transcriptome
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers