YARG: A repository for arsenic-related genes in yeast

PLoS One. 2018 Jul 26;13(7):e0201204. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0201204. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Arsenic is a toxic metalloid. Moderate levels of arsenic exposure from drinking water can cause various human health problems such as skin lesions, circulatory disorders and cancers. Thus, arsenic toxicity is a key focus area for environmental and toxicological investigations. Many arsenic-related genes in yeast have been identified by experimental strategies such as phenotypic screening and transcriptional profiling. These identified arsenic-related genes are valuable information for studying arsenic toxicity. However, the literature about these identified arsenic-related genes is widely dispersed and cannot be easily acquired by researchers. This prompts us to develop YARG (Yeast Arsenic-Related Genes) database, which comprehensively collects 3396 arsenic-related genes in the literature. For each arsenic-related gene, the number and types of experimental evidence (phenotypic screening and/or transcriptional profiling) are provided. Users can use both search and browse modes to query arsenic-related genes in YARG. We used two case studies to show that YARG can return biologically meaningful arsenic-related information for the query gene(s). We believe that YARG is a useful resource for arsenic toxicity research. YARG is available at http://cosbi4.ee.ncku.edu.tw/YARG/.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Arsenic*
  • Databases, Genetic*
  • Fungal Proteins / genetics
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Genes, Fungal*
  • Internet
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / genetics

Substances

  • Fungal Proteins
  • Arsenic

Grants and funding

This work was supported by National Cheng Kung University and Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan [MOST-105-2221-E-006-203-MY2 and MOST-106-2628-E-006-006-MY2]. Funding for open access charge: Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.