Search extension transforms Wiki into a relational system: A case for flavonoid metabolite database

Background: In computer science, database systems are based on the relational model founded by Edgar Codd in 1970. On the other hand, in the area of biology the word 'database' often refers to loosely formatted, very large text files. Although such bio-databases may describe conflicts or ambiguities (e.g. a protein pair do and do not interact, or unknown parameters) in a positive sense, the flexibility of the data format sacrifices a systematic query mechanism equivalent to the widely used SQL. Results: To overcome this disadvantage, we propose embeddable string-search commands on a Wiki-based system and designed a half-formatted database. As proof of principle, a database of flavonoid with 6902 molecular structures from over 1687 plant species was implemented on MediaWiki, the background system of Wikipedia. Registered users can describe any information in an arbitrary format. Structured part is subject to text-string searches to realize relational operations. The system wa...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2008
• Where: BIODATAMINING
• Authors: Masanori Arita, Kazuhiro Suwa
• Keywords: BIODATAMINING 2008, Database System, Databases, Systematic Query Mechanism