MorusDB: a resource for mulberry genomics and genome biology

Mulberry is an important cultivated plant that has received the attention of biologists interested in sericulture and plant-insect interaction. Morus notabilis, a wild mulberry species with a minimal chromosome number is an ideal material for whole-genome sequencing and assembly. The genome and transcriptome of M. notabilis were sequenced and analyzed. In this article, a web-based and open-access database, the Morus Genome Database (MorusDB), was developed to enable easy-to-access and data mining. The MorusDB provides an integrated data source and an easy accession of mulberry large-scale genomic sequencing and assembly, predicted genes and functional annotations, expressed sequence tags (ESTs), transposable elements (TEs), Gene Ontology (GO) terms, horizontal gene transfers between mulberry and silkworm and ortholog and paralog groups. Transcriptome sequencing data for M. notabilis root, leaf, bark, winter bud and male flower can also be searched and downloaded. Furthermore, MorusDB provides an analytical workbench with some built-in tools and pipelines, such as BLAST, Search GO, Mulberry GO and Mulberry GBrowse, to facilitate genomic studies and comparative genomics. The MorusDB provides important genomic resources for scientists working with mulberry and other Moraceae species, which include many important fruit crops. Designed as a basic platform and accompanied by the SilkDB, MorusDB strives to be a comprehensive platform for the silkworm-mulberry interaction studies. Database URL: http://morus.swu.edu.cn/morusdb.