An on-line two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis protein database of adult Drosophila melanogaster.

An annotated two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-D PAGE) protein database of adult Drosophila melanogaster has been constructed, based on the protein patterns of heads, thoraces and abdomens of adult male and female Drosophila melanogaster. About 1200 major protein spots are catalogued. Common proteins, found in all body parts, as well as bodypart- and sex-specifically expressed proteins are reported. Of the major proteins, 91, or 7.5%, are differentially expressed in the two sexes or in different body parts, at least in part reflecting specific functional requirements. At the present time 43 proteins, or about 3.5% of the detected proteins, have been identified. These data can be accessed interactively from our World Wide Web (WWW) server through clickable inline gel images and hypertext links. Identified protein spots are cross-referenced, through hypertext links, to the SWISS-PROT annotated database of protein primary sequences and the Fly-Base database of Drosophila genomic data. Our reference gels can be used to gain immediate access to protein spot identify and to the pattern of differentially expressed proteins in Drosophila melanogaster. The work presented in this article ties together information from protein 2-D PAGE, molecular biology and genetics and offers a uniform way to access this large volume of data.