Patho-Genes.org: a website dedicated to gene sequences of potential bioterror bacteria and PCR primers used to amplify them.
Pathogenic agents can be very hard to detect, and usually they do not cause illness for several hours or days. To improve the speed and the accuracy of detection tests and satisfy the needs of early diagnosis, molecular biology methods such as PCR are now used. However, selecting a proper target gene and designing good primers is often not easy. We present a dedicated website, http://patho-genes.org, where we provide every sequence, functional annotation, published primer and relevant article for every annotated gene of major pathogenic bacterial species listed as key agents to be used for a bioterrorism attack. Each published primer was analysed to determine its melting temperature, its specificity and its coverage (i.e. its sensitivity against every allele of its target gene). Data generated have been organized in the form of data sheet for each gene, which are available through multiple browser panels and query systems.
CNRS UMR 7138 Systématique Adaptation et Evolution, Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis, Parc Valrose BP71, F06108, Nice cedex, 02, France. jgardes@gmail.com
Julien
J
Gardès
Dipankar
D
Bachar
Olivier
O
Croce
Richard
R
Christen
D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D054045:Biological Warfare Agents; D023482:Bioterrorism / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods*; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics*; D030561:Databases, Nucleic Acid; D020407:Internet; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*
D054045:Biological Warfare Agents; D017931:DNA Primers