This search page allows you to choose database field(s), a search mode, a search term
and a database to search. Searches are case insensitive. The
specific database fields from which you can choose include Gene ID,
Definition, Gene Name or
Pathway. You may also
choose the All Fields selection for Database Field to
search all of the major database fields for your search term. The major fields include
Gene ID, Functional Class, Gene Name, Definition, EC number, Structural feature, Comment,
Paralog, and BLAST Summary. Only certain combinations of these fields are searched within a
specific table. See
Database Documentation
for specific details concerning the fields.
If you do not understand the structure of the database,
then you would have more success if you chose a specific database field upon which to search.
You can apply Contains, Ends with, Starts with or Is to the term. If you choose Is, then the
term exactly as written will be searched. If a record(s) matches that term exactly for the
field(s) specified, then that record(s) will be returned. For further
information on wildcard search modes, click on the help button provided above.
Examples:
Example 1: Try searching
the Streptococcus mutans database
with protease as the term, Definition for the database field and Is as
the mode: Definition Is protease.
The number of records returned would be minimal. The record(s) returned will be those from the
Streptococcus mutans database
that contain protease as their entire Definition.
Example 2: Try looking for different types of proteases
in the Streptococcus mutans database
by using the modes
Ends with or Starts with or Contains for the same field, Definition,
and the same search term, protease.
The record(s) returned will be those from the
Streptococcus mutans database
where the Definition contains the term protease.
Example 3: Try looking for additional proteases
in the Streptococcus mutans database
by using the mode
Contains, All Fields for the database field, the same search term, protease.
The record(s) returned would be those from the
Streptococcus mutans database,
where protease occurs in any field of the record, which could include the Comment,
Definition, BLAST Summary or Structural Feature field.
Example 3
will return more records because many database fields are being searched for the term. The
search in Example 2 will return fewer records because the only database field being searched is
the Definition.
Example 4: Try searching with protease on All Databases using the term Is and database field Definition.
The record(s) returned would be those from all databases where the entire Definition is protease. Try this search using Contains and you will receive more records.
When All Databases is chosen, the search will return gene records matching your
criteria for all of the available databases. If a specific database does not contain
records corresponding to your search criteria, that fact will be interspersed with the results
and displayed on the search results page like this:
No gene records were found in the Organism name
database that matched your search.
If you choose Gene ID as the database field and Is as the mode you must have the
exact Gene ID as your search term. The exact Gene ID includes the organism prefix
(specific to each organism) and the numerical portion of the ID. An example of an organism
prefix for
Streptococcus mutans is: SMu. This prefix would be followed by the numerical portion of the ID, which corresponds to the number of a predicted open reading frame. An example of an exact Gene ID for Streptococcus mutans is SMu0001 where SMu is the organism prefix and 0001 is the numerical portion of the Gene ID that corresponds to the first predicted open reading frame. See Database Prefixes for specific database Gene ID prefixes. If you chose Gene ID as the database field and
Contains as the mode, you
could enter just part of the Gene ID, either the numerical portion, the organism prefix
or a combination.
Be forewarned in general that some searches, particularly (but not limited to)
searches across all databases and/or all database fields can produce lengthy output. In such
cases, it will be preferable to employ the
Intermediate Search
capability or select a specific database field.