TY - JOUR
T1 - The Minimum Information About A Biosynthetic Gene Cluster Standard as a Means of Organizing Bioinformatic Data
AU - Epstein, Samuel C.
AU - Medema, Marnix H.
AU - Charkoudian, Louise K.
PY - 2018/4/1
Y1 - 2018/4/1
N2 - Therapeutic agents play an increasingly large role in our daily lives, and it is important to study the source of these powerful chemical compounds. Biosynthetic gene clusters found in a diverse set of organisms are capable of manufacturing structurally complex organic compounds in a systematic way, by expressing suites of a enzymes to build the natural products. There is a growing need for a centralized database to connect data for related genes, enzymes, and compounds. This information is currently stored in a siloed fashion, across several repositories, creating an obstacle for modern researchers. The Minimum Information about a Biosynthetic Gene cluster (MIBiG) database aims to solve this problem by utilizing user-inputted data to translate scientific discoveries into a format that can be analyzed computationally to connect genes to chemistry, understand biosynthetic gene clusters in the context of environmental diversity, and develop computer-generated gene cluster engineering. As an effort to make MiBIG more accessible to an expanding scientific community, we developed a workflow, Excel templates, a tutorial video, a collection of review literature, and educational tools to facilitate the entry process have all been developed. To verify the effectiveness of the protocol and associated resources, MIBiG was deployed as a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) in an upper-level undergraduate course.
AB - Therapeutic agents play an increasingly large role in our daily lives, and it is important to study the source of these powerful chemical compounds. Biosynthetic gene clusters found in a diverse set of organisms are capable of manufacturing structurally complex organic compounds in a systematic way, by expressing suites of a enzymes to build the natural products. There is a growing need for a centralized database to connect data for related genes, enzymes, and compounds. This information is currently stored in a siloed fashion, across several repositories, creating an obstacle for modern researchers. The Minimum Information about a Biosynthetic Gene cluster (MIBiG) database aims to solve this problem by utilizing user-inputted data to translate scientific discoveries into a format that can be analyzed computationally to connect genes to chemistry, understand biosynthetic gene clusters in the context of environmental diversity, and develop computer-generated gene cluster engineering. As an effort to make MiBIG more accessible to an expanding scientific community, we developed a workflow, Excel templates, a tutorial video, a collection of review literature, and educational tools to facilitate the entry process have all been developed. To verify the effectiveness of the protocol and associated resources, MIBiG was deployed as a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) in an upper-level undergraduate course.
U2 - 10.1096/fasebj.2018.32.1_supplement.547.2
DO - 10.1096/fasebj.2018.32.1_supplement.547.2
M3 - Article
SN - 0892-6638
VL - 32
SP - 547.2-547.2
JO - FASEB Journal
JF - FASEB Journal
IS - S1
ER -