TarO: a target optimisation system for structural biology

TarO (http://www.compbio.dundee.ac.uk/taro) offers a single point of reference for key bioinformatics analyses relevant to selecting proteins or domains for study by structural biology techniques. The protein sequence is analysed by 17 algorithms and compared to 8 databases. TarO gathers putative homologues, including orthologues, and then obtains predictions of properties for these sequences including crystallisation propensity, protein disorder and post-translational modifications. Analyses are run on a high-performance computing cluster, the results integrated, stored in a database and accessed through a web-based user interface. Output is in tabulated format and in the form of an annotated multiple sequence alignment (MSA) that may be edited interactively in the program Jalview. TarO also simplifies the gathering of additional annotations via the Distributed Annotation System, both from the MSA in Jalview and through links to Dasty2. Routes to other information gateways are includ...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2008
• Where: NAR
• Authors: Ian M. Overton, C. A. Johannes van Niekerk, Lester G. Carter, Alice Dawson, David M. A. Martin, Scott Cameron, Stephen A. McMahon, Malcolm F. White, William N. Hunter, James H. Naismith, Geoffrey J. Barton
• Keywords: NAR 2008, Protein, TarO, TarO Gathers