Genome annotation is a fundamental process in the sequence analysis, through which biological knowledge is generated from sequenced genomic data. Good annotation not only enhances our own downstream analyses but also promotes subsequent researches by others because it can propagate through public sequence databases. In this article, we will show how annotated genomic data are described in the public databases. And then, we will introduce how to use the bacterial annotation pipeline DFAST (DDBJ Fast Annotation and Submission Tool). DFAST is developed to facilitate quick and accurate genome annotation as well as data submission to DDBJ. It was originally designed specific for lactic acid bacteria and now extended to other organism groups. We finally present a method to visualize chromosome maps from DFAST annotation results. Supplementary materials are available at our web site, http://www.iu.a.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~
kadota/r_seq.html#about_book_JSLAB.

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This study was conducted to investigate the effects of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) on skin conditions and defecation of healthy female volunteers by comparing them before and after intake. Sixteen healthy female volunteers with tendency of constipation and dry skin were given lyophilized cell preparation of LGG (1.4 × 10¹⁰ cfu/day) for 4 weeks. Defecation frequency was significantly increased from 3.0 times/week before intake to 5.5 times/week after 4 weeks (p<0.01). Fecal color and shape (p<0.05), physical sensation (p<0.01) were also improved after 4 weeks. Skin spots and unevenness of a skin color at the cheek were significantly improved after intervention by the measurement of the VISIA systems (p<0.01). After 4 weeks, the stratum corneum hydration of the cheek and the inner forearm was higher than those before intake (p<0.01, p<0.05). Skin dryness and papula (p<0.01) and erythema (p<0.05) at the cheek were significantly improved. Skindex-16 and questionnaire survey found that the skin state was significantly improved after intake (p<0.01). These results suggest that LGG might express beneficial effects on the skin and defecation.

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