In bacteria, small (~30-500 nt) non-coding RNAs (sRNAs) are the most abundant class of post-transcriptional regulators that are involved in diverse processes including quorum sensing, stress response, virulence and carbon metabolism. Based on the target molecules, sRNAs can be divided into two major groups: (i) mRNA-binding antisense sRNAs and (ii) protein-binding sRNAs. The antisense RNAs can further be categorized as cis-encoded antisense sRNAs, which are completely complementary to their targets, and trans-encoded antisense sRNAs, which are only partially complementary to their targets. In any case, the interaction between antisense RNAs and target mRNAs could direct a plethora of biological regulatory circuits. Recent developments in high-throughput techniques, such as genomic tiling arrays and RNA-Seq have provided invaluable insights into the detection and characterization of bacterial sRNAs. However, a comprehensive bacterial sRNA database is not yet available, especially for integrating and analyzing high-throughput sequencing data. Here, we have designed and constructed BSRD (Bacterial Small regulatory RNA Database) which hosts sRNAs collected from over 783 bacterial species and 957 strains. ... [Information of the supplier]
