The Sulfolobus database.

The Sulfolobus database (http://www.sulfolobus.org) integrates, for the first time, all currently available Sulfolobus chromosome sequences with annotations. It also includes all the sequence data for the extrachromosomal elements which can propagate in Sulfolobus organisms. All genomes and annotations deposited in GenBank are included in the database and a genefinder has been run on the sequences to ensure that all potential genes are present, and identifiable, in the database. Every month, all genes are searched against a range of external databases and new results are incorporated. The Sulfolobus database was developed as an asset to the rapidly-growing international community working with Sulfolobus as a model organism for the kingdom Crenarchaeota of the Archaea. It was accessed more that 46 000 times in its first year. The database aims to provide researchers easy access to sequence and gene information and the web-interface includes various searches, free text and BLAST, as well as genome browsing and data extraction. Updated annotations are incorporated regularly and the database will continue to expand as new information becomes available. This includes new sequences, newly identified genes, annotations and other related information.