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Updated: Feb 3, 2026

The ITS2 Database
Published on: March 12, 2012
The Pfam protein families database in 2019
Sara El-Gebali1, Jaina Mistry1, Alex Bateman1
1European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SD, UK.
Pfam has expanded its protein family database with new additions and improved existing entries. Collaborations and new methods led to 825 new families and better integration with other biological ontologies.
Area of Science:
- Bioinformatics
- Structural Biology
- Genomics
Background:
- Pfam database has undergone significant updates and expansion in recent releases.
- Efforts are ongoing to refine protein domain boundaries, classifications, and functional annotations within Pfam.
- Collaboration with external resources like RepeatsDB and ECOD is crucial for database enhancement.
Purpose of the Study:
- To detail recent advancements and changes in the Pfam database.
- To report the creation of new protein families and improved annotations.
- To enhance the integration of Pfam with other biological databases and ontologies.
Main Methods:
- Comparison with the Evolutionary Classification of Protein Domains (ECOD) database.
- Collaboration with the RepeatsDB resource for tandem repeat family definition.
- Mapping Pfam type definitions to Sequence Ontology (SO) terms.
- Integration of ORCID identifiers for author attribution.
Main Results:
- Pfam release 32.0 contains 17,929 protein families.
- 825 new families were created based on comparisons with ECOD and uncharacterized families (EUFs).
- Pfam entries are now linked to Sequence Ontology (SO) terms.
- Author contributions are linked to ORCID identifiers.
Conclusions:
- Pfam continues to grow and improve through internal efforts and external collaborations.
- Enhanced integration with other databases and ontologies improves data utility.
- Improved author attribution through ORCID strengthens community contribution.
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