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. 2001 Jan 1;29(1):137-40.
doi: 10.1093/nar/29.1.137.

RefSeq and LocusLink: NCBI gene-centered resources

K D Pruitt  1 , D R Maglott
Affiliations

RefSeq and LocusLink: NCBI gene-centered resources

K D Pruitt et al. Nucleic Acids Res. .

Abstract

Thousands of genes have been painstakingly identified and characterized a few genes at a time. Many thousands more are being predicted by large scale cDNA and genomic sequencing projects, with levels of evidence ranging from supporting mRNA sequence and comparative genomics to computing ab initio models. This, coupled with the burgeoning scientific literature, makes it critical to have a comprehensive directory for genes and reference sequences for key genomes. The NCBI provides two resources, LocusLink and RefSeq, to meet these needs. LocusLink organizes information around genes to generate a central hub for accessing gene-specific information for fruit fly, human, mouse, rat and zebrafish. RefSeq provides reference sequence standards for genomes, transcripts and proteins; human, mouse and rat mRNA RefSeqs, and their corresponding proteins, are discussed here. Together, RefSeq and LocusLink provide a non-redundant view of genes and other loci to support research on genes and gene families, variation, gene expression and genome annotation. Additional information about LocusLink and RefSeq is available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/LocusLink/.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
RefSeq and LocusLink growth over a 1-year period. (A) The number of RefSeq records for human, mouse and rat for mid-September of 1999 and 2000. These numbers include genes for which multiple reference sequences are provided to represent splice variants and their products. As of September 2000, 10 301 human reference sequence mRNAs (and their corresponding proteins) are provided for 9954 genes. The number of human RefSeq records in three categories is also indicated (Hs, human); Genome Annotation reference sequence numbers are not included. Rat, mouse and predicted human RefSeq records became available after September 1999. (B) Loci available in LocusLink for September of 1999 and 2000. Mouse, rat, zebrafish and fruit fly genomes were added after September 1999. Of the 17 214 known human loci, 14 103 have some associated sequence data (including ESTs), and 9954 loci have at least one mRNA and protein reference sequence.
Figure 1
Figure 1
RefSeq and LocusLink growth over a 1-year period. (A) The number of RefSeq records for human, mouse and rat for mid-September of 1999 and 2000. These numbers include genes for which multiple reference sequences are provided to represent splice variants and their products. As of September 2000, 10 301 human reference sequence mRNAs (and their corresponding proteins) are provided for 9954 genes. The number of human RefSeq records in three categories is also indicated (Hs, human); Genome Annotation reference sequence numbers are not included. Rat, mouse and predicted human RefSeq records became available after September 1999. (B) Loci available in LocusLink for September of 1999 and 2000. Mouse, rat, zebrafish and fruit fly genomes were added after September 1999. Of the 17 214 known human loci, 14 103 have some associated sequence data (including ESTs), and 9954 loci have at least one mRNA and protein reference sequence.
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