Mouse Genome Database (MGD) 2019

TLDR

The Mouse Genome Database (MGD) is the authoritative community resource for mouse genetics, providing reference data on genes, functions, phenotypes, disease models, and official nomenclature for genes, alleles, and strains. This report details major upgrades to MGD, notably the Multi Genome Viewer and a Phenotype‑Gene Expression matrix that enable researchers to compare gene expression with phenotype annotations. Additional improvements include streamlined literature curation and the addition of Transcriptional Start Site annotations from RIKEN’s FANTOM 5 project.

Abstract

The Mouse Genome Database (MGD; http://www.informatics.jax.org) is the community model organism genetic and genome resource for the laboratory mouse. MGD is the authoritative source for biological reference data sets related to mouse genes, gene functions, phenotypes, and mouse models of human disease. MGD is the primary outlet for official gene, allele and mouse strain nomenclature based on the guidelines set by the International Committee on Standardized Nomenclature for Mice. In this report we describe significant enhancements to MGD, including two new graphical user interfaces: (i) the Multi Genome Viewer for exploring the genomes of multiple mouse strains and (ii) the Phenotype-Gene Expression matrix which was developed in collaboration with the Gene Expression Database (GXD) and allows researchers to compare gene expression and phenotype annotations for mouse genes. Other recent improvements include enhanced efficiency of our literature curation processes and the incorporation of Transcriptional Start Site (TSS) annotations from RIKEN's FANTOM 5 initiative.