Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
2.
To facilitate the identification of potential targets for the develop-
ment of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.
The eight BRCs will curate genomic information on a specific set
of microorganisms and integrate other types of data relevant to those
pathogens. The list of the pathogens in the NIAID Category A to C
priority and the corresponding BRC associated are shown in Fig. 1.
A mandate for interoperability between BRCs has been made by
NIAID, and standardization of data formats will be critical to meet this
goal. Each BRC is developing a multi-organism relational database
that it will maintain and continually update. Standard and advanced
analytical tools will also be built and enhanced throughout the dura-
tion of the project as a companion to the database and an analysis
resource to help researchers access and analyze the data. For example,
the analysis tools will enable comparative analysis of genomes to allow
the identification of genetic polymorphisms that correlate with pheno-
types such as pathogenicity, drug resistance, morbidity and infectivity.
A total of three out of the eight BRCs (PATRIC, VBRC and
BioHealthBase) (Table 1) are involved in the curation of the viruses.
Here we describe the organization of the resources at PATRIC.
The Pathogen Resource Integration Center (PATRIC) and
Annotation and Curation of Microbial Genomic Data
PATRIC will annotate and curate genomic and related biological data
for eight pathogenic microorganisms, which include three bacteria and
five viruses. The bacteria are
Brucella
,
Rickettsia
, and
Coxiella
, while the
viruses include the caliciviruses, coronaviruses, hepatitis A, hepatitis E,
and rabies viruses. Table 2 provides the number of genomes stored at
PATRIC and the range of genome sizes. Specifically, we plan to anno-
tate and curate biological information on the multiple strains/genotypes
of the hepatitis A virus, the hepatitis E virus and the rabies virus
species; members of the genus
coronavirus
(family
Coronaviridae
); and
the entire
Caliciviridae
family.
Systems biology is the study of biological organisms at the systems-
level that takes into account the interactions of the key cellular compo-
nents (DNA, RNA, protein, metabolic pathways) and the response of
