title: Annotation of plasmid genes.
abstract: Good annotation of plasmid genomes is essential to maximise the value of the rapidly increasing volume of plasmid sequences. This short review highlights some of the current issues and suggests some ways forward. Where a well-studied related plasmid system exists we recommend that new annotation adheres to the convention already established for that system, so long as it is based on sound principles and solid experimental evidence, even if some of the new genes are more similar to homologues in different systems. Where a well-established model does not exist we provide generic gene names that reflect likely biochemical activity rather than overall purpose particularly, for example, where genes clearly belong to a type IV secretion system but it is not known whether they function in conjugative transfer or virulence. We also recommend that annotators use a whole system naming approach to avoid ending up with an illogical mixture of names from other systems based on the highest scoring match from a BLAST search. In addition, where function has not been experimentally established we recommend using just the locus tag, rather than a function-related gene name, while recording possible functions as notes rather than in a provisional name.
authors.affiliation: School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK. Electronic address: c.m.thomas@bham.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Christopher M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Sanger Centre, Hinxton CB10 1SA, UK.
authors.forename: Nicholas R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Thomson
authors.affiliation: Sanger Centre, Hinxton CB10 1SA, UK.
authors.forename: Ana M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Cerdeño-Tárraga
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-3051, United States.
authors.forename: Celeste J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-3051, United States.
authors.forename: Eva M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Top
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada.
authors.forename: Laura S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Frost
mesh_terms: D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003227:Conjugation, Genetic; D004261:DNA Replication; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial / Q000235:genetics; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D058977:Molecular Sequence Annotation / Q000379:methods*; D010957:Plasmids / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification* / Q000378:metabolism; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D009626:Terminology as Topic
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004269:DNA, Bacterial
keywords: Conjugative transfer; DNA sequence; Gene function; Gene names; Genome; Replication