rrnDB news and updates

Phylogenetic distribution of rrn operon copy number The relative abundance of 16S rRNA genes is commonly used to describe and compare microbial communities. Variation in number of ribosomal RNA genes in a genome can skew such analyses, particularly if there is a large discrepancy in rrn operon copy number among microbes in a community. The rrnDB calculates average rrn operon copy number for any taxonomic group selected and this can be used to normalize the number of 16S rRNA genes. A detailed view of the relationship between bacterial phylogeny and the number of rrn operons, is provided in the article "Visualization of ribosomal RNA operon copy number distribution" that was published in BMC Microbiology.

rrnDB：documenting the number of rRNA and tRNA genes in bacteria and archaea. A new article on the rrnDB has been published on Nucleic Acid Research 2009 Database Issue. rrnDB users should now cite Lee, Z. M-P., C. Bussema III and T.M. Schmidt (2009) rrnDB: Documenting the number of rRNA and tRNA genes in Bacteria and Archaea. Nucleic Acids Research. 37: D489-D493.

Search function improved The search function was not very intuitive for Internet Explorer and Safari users. It has been updated and there is now a search button that can also be prompt with the Enter key. While there is a search button for both 'search by keyword' and 'search by taxonomy', users can use a combination of both these search functions (e.g., Class Gammaproteobacteria and 5 16S rRNA gene copy number) to be more specific in their search.

Database Updated With more complete genomes being annotated, we are now able to update the rrnDB with more entries. The database now has rrn operon information for 782 bacterial strains and 69 archaeal strains.

rrnDB now provides more information and has more entries. rrnDB now has ribosomal RNA genes copy numbers from all sequenced bacterial genomes that have been annotated. Furthermore, we have also included the tRNA gene copy number.

rrnDB back online After a long downtime, we have been working diligently for the past month preparing to relaunch this site in its new form and at its new address. The new site promises to be faster, easier to use, and have more data than before. Watch this page for updates!