Abstract
Background: The rabbit is an important model organism used in a wide range of biomedical research. However, the rabbit genome is still sparsely annotated, thus prohibiting extensive functional analysis of gene sets derived from whole-genome experiments. We developed a web-based application that provides augmented annotation and orthologue analysis for rabbit genes. Importantly, the application allows comprehensive functional analysis through the use of orthologous relationships.Results: Using data extracted from several public bioinformatics repositories we created Better Bunny, a database and query tool that extensively augments the available functional annotation for rabbit genes. Using the complete set of target genes from a commercial rabbit gene expression microarray as our benchmark, we are able to obtain functional information for 88 % of the genes on the microarray. Previously, functional information was available for fewer than 10 % of the rabbit genes.Conclusions: We have developed a freely available, web-accessible bioinformatics tool that enables investigators to quickly and easily perform extensive functional analysis of rabbit genes (http://cptweb.cpt.wayne.edu). The software application fills a critical void for a wide range of biomedical research that relies on the rabbit model and requires characterization of biological function for large sets of genes.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 84 |
Journal | BMC Bioinformatics |
Volume | 13 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 8 2012 |
Keywords
- Annotation
- Functional analysis
- Genome
- Microarray
- Orthologue
- Rabbit
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Structural Biology
- Biochemistry
- Molecular Biology
- Computer Science Applications
- Applied Mathematics