EcoCyc: Encyclopedia of Escherichia coli genes and metabolism

The encyclopedia of Escherichia coli genes and metabolism (EcoCyc) is a database that combines information about the genome and the intermediary metabolism of E.coli. The database describes 3030 genes of E.coli , 695 enzymes encoded by a subset of these genes, 595 metabolic reactions that occur in E.coli, and the organization of these reactions into 123 metabolic pathways. The EcoCyc graphical user interface allows scientists to query and explore the EcoCyc database using visualization tools such as genomic-map browsers and automatic layouts of metabolic pathways. EcoCyc can be thought of as an electronic review article because of its copious references to the primary literature, and as a (qualitative) computational model of E.coli metabolism. EcoCyc is available at URL http://ecocyc.PangeaSystems.com/ecocyc/