NCBI Reference Sequence (RefSeq): a curated non-redundant sequence database of genomes, transcripts and proteins

TLDR

The NCBI RefSeq database offers a non‑redundant collection of genomic, transcript, and protein sequences. RefSeq compiles publicly available sequences, linking nucleotides and proteins and annotating coding regions, domains, variation, and cross‑references through automated pipelines, community input, and NCBI curation. It contains data from more than 2,400 organisms and over one million proteins across prokaryotes, eukaryotes, and viruses.

Abstract

The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Reference Sequence (RefSeq) database ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/RefSeq/ ) provides a non-redundant collection of sequences representing genomic data, transcripts and proteins. Although the goal is to provide a comprehensive dataset representing the complete sequence information for any given species, the database pragmatically includes sequence data that are currently publicly available in the archival databases. The database incorporates data from over 2400 organisms and includes over one million proteins representing significant taxonomic diversity spanning prokaryotes, eukaryotes and viruses. Nucleotide and protein sequences are explicitly linked, and the sequences are linked to other resources including the NCBI Map Viewer and Gene. Sequences are annotated to include coding regions, conserved domains, variation, references, names, database cross-references, and other features using a combined approach of collaboration and other input from the scientific community, automated annotation, propagation from GenBank and curation by NCBI staff.