title: SporeWeb: an interactive journey through the complete sporulation cycle of Bacillus subtilis.
abstract: Bacterial spores are a continuous problem for both food-based and health-related industries. Decades of scientific research dedicated towards understanding molecular and gene regulatory aspects of sporulation, spore germination and spore properties have resulted in a wealth of data and information. To facilitate obtaining a complete overview as well as new insights concerning this complex and tightly regulated process, we have developed a database-driven knowledge platform called SporeWeb (http://sporeweb.molgenrug.nl) that focuses on gene regulatory networks during sporulation in the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis. Dynamic features allow the user to navigate through all stages of sporulation with review-like descriptions, schematic overviews on transcriptional regulation and detailed information on all regulators and the genes under their control. The Web site supports data acquisition on sporulation genes and their expression, regulon network interactions and direct links to other knowledge platforms or relevant literature. The information found on SporeWeb (including figures and tables) can and will be updated as new information becomes available in the literature. In this way, SporeWeb offers a novel, convenient and timely reference, an information source and a data acquisition tool that will aid in the general understanding of the dynamics of the complete sporulation cycle.
authors.affiliation: Top Institute Food and Nutrition (TIFN), Nieuwe Kanaal 9A, 6709 PA Wageningen, The Netherlands and Department of Molecular Genetics, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Robyn T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Eijlander
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Jong
authors.forename: Antonina O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Krawczyk
authors.forename: Siger
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Holsappel
authors.forename: Oscar P
authors.initials: OP
authors.lastname: Kuipers
mesh_terms: D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D020407:Internet; D018085:Regulon; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development