STRING: a web-server to retrieve and display the repeatedly occurring neighbourhood of a gene

TLDR

The repeated occurrence of genes in each other’s neighbourhood on genomes indicates a functional association between the proteins they encode. STRING is introduced as a tool to retrieve and display genes that repeatedly co‑occur with a query gene in genomic clusters. It iteratively searches for recurring neighboring genes and visualises the findings within genomic context. STRING delineates potentially functionally associated genes and, as illustrated, can suggest functional context for an RNA methylase of unknown specificity. STRING is available at http://www.bork.embl-heidelberg.de/STRING.

Abstract

The repeated occurrence of genes in each other’s neighbourhood on genomes has been shown to indicate a functional association between the proteins they encode. Here we introduce STRING (search tool for recurring instances of neighbouring genes), a tool to retrieve and display the genes a query gene repeatedly occurs with in clusters on the genome. The tool performs iterative searches and visualises the results in their genomic context. By finding the genomically associated genes for a query, it delineates a set of potentially functionally associated genes. The usefulness of STRING is illustrated with an example that suggests a functional context for an RNA methylase with unknown specificity. STRING is available at http://www.bork.embl-heidelberg.de/STRING