An Integrated Database Connecting Expression Data, Meta-Data and Variants

Given the massive amounts of high throughput transcriptome RNA-seq data required to postulate suitable hypothesis and conclude accurate results; the need for an efficient organizational structure is paramount. Here, we present an integrated MySQL database for connecting expression analysis obtained from the fRNAkenseq software with corresponding meta-data. In addition to the efficient storage and management of the transcriptome expression analysis, the database also stores gene-associated variants (such as SNPs) and their predicted gene effects obtained from our Variant Analysis Pipeline. The Variant Analysis Pipeline consist of a fully automated suite of bioinformatics resources to efficiently identify and characterize gene-associated variants from high-throughput RNA-seq data. Ultimately, this integrated database provides an information-rich or targeted platform for researchers to focus on specific genes or gene lists of interest and be able to retrieve expression data based on defined parameters, as well as to easily access the variants associated with the genes specified and their predicted impact(s).