EpoDB: a database of genes expressed during vertebrate erythropoiesis.

EpoDB is a database designed for the study of gene regulation during differentiation and development of vertebrate red blood cells. In building EpoDB, we have taken the in advance approach to the data integration problem: we have extracted data relevant to red blood cells from GenBank, SWISS-PROT, TRRD (transcriptional regulation data) and GERD (expression levels data) to create a single integrated, highly curated view. Tools have been developed to automate data extraction from online resources, cleanse data of errors, enter information manually from the primary literature, generate a uniform, canonical representation of information and maintain data currency. The database is organized around biological features, e.g., genes, rather than sequences, which are supported by a controlled and consistent vocabulary for gene names and gene family names. Beyond the standard database queries, the functionality of EpoDB includes the ability to extract features and subsequences, display sequences and features graphically using bioWidget viewers and integrated analysis tools. EpoDB may be accessed at: http://cbil.humgen.upenn.edu/epodb/