KATANA: A web-based guide to public databases for Arabidopsis genomic information

Abstract

Genomic information of Arabidopsis thaliana can be obtained from various public databases. Given that naming conventions often vary between databases and that the same genes can be annotated differently, we developed a web-based tool, KATANA (Kazusa Arabidopsis thaliana Annotation Abstract; http://www.kazusa.or.jp/katana/), to guide users searching for Arabidopsis genomic information to the relevant public databases from a single site. The tool contains information and annotations of genes and proteins, gene families, gene ontology (GO) terms, metabolic pathways and gene expression data from the Massively Parallel Signature Sequencing (MPSS) experiments. Given that entries in the tool are hyper-linked to those of the databases, detailed information can be accessed at the original sites. Advanced searches for metabolic pathways and GO terms can also be performed.