VirGen: a comprehensive viral genome resource

Abstract

VirGen is a comprehensive viral genome resource that organizes the ‘sequence space’ of viral genomes in a structured fashion. It has been developed with the objective of serving as an annotated and curated database comprising complete genome sequences of viruses, value-added derived data and data mining tools. The current release (v1.1) contains 559 complete genomes in addition to 287 putative genomes of viruses belonging to eight viral families for which the host range includes animals and plants. Viral genomes in VirGen are annotated using sequence-based Bioinformatics approaches. The genomic data is also curated to identify ‘alternate names’ of viral proteins, where available. VirGen archives the results of comparisons of genomes, proteomes and individual proteins within and between viral species. It is the first resource to provide phylogenetic trees of viral species computed using whole-genome sequence data. The module of predicted B-cell antigenic determinants in VirGen is an attempt to link the genome to its vaccinome. Comparative genome analysis data facilitate the study of genome organization and evolution of viruses, which would have implications in applied research to identify candidates for the design of vaccines and antiviral drugs. VirGen is a relational database and is available at http://bioinfo.ernet.in/virgen/virgen.html.