[Bioperl-l] TFBS databases, Bio::Matrix::PSM suitable?

Maximilian Haeussler maximilianh at gmail.com
Sat Sep 9 21:03:05 UTC 2006


(just found this old mail, sorry for the delay, reading too many mailing
lists, how many hours do you guys spend on reading mailng lists per day???)

Transfac versions 3.4 and 4.0 (If I remember well) had a much more open
licence, at that time you were still allowed to download and distribute the
file (you can still find these old versions on the net, e.g.
http://biotech.embl-ebi.ac.uk:8400/sw/common/test/matrix.dat).
I guess an older version could be used for the test cases in Bioperl.

Another argument for supporting the transfac format in Bioperl is that it is
the only de-facto standard format for matrices. Many pwm scanners and
websites can parse it or at least supply a converter for Transfac into their
own format.

cheers,
Max


On 22/08/06, Chris Fields <cjfields at uiuc.edu> wrote:
>
> Hilmar,
>
> No, unfortunately no TRANSFAC or similar matrices.  But there are a few
> other similar resources out there that may provide matrices:
>
> http://molbiol-tools.ca/DNA_Motifs.htm
>
> This one allows you to create a matrix from input sequences:
>
> http://molbiol-tools.ca/Jie_Zheng/
>
>
> Chris
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Hilmar Lapp [mailto:hlapp at gmx.net]
> > Sent: Tuesday, August 22, 2006 1:04 PM
> > To: Chris Fields
> > Cc: 'Sendu Bala'; bioperl-l at lists.open-bio.org
> > Subject: Re: [Bioperl-l] TFBS databases, Bio::Matrix::PSM suitable?
> >
> > Good idea if that's feasible and not too difficult (or do they
> > provide transfac format themselves?).
> >
> >       -hilmar
> >
> > On Aug 22, 2006, at 1:20 PM, Chris Fields wrote:
> >
> > > ....
> > >> I've sent an email to their support address (though this may take
> > >> a long
> > >> time to get a reply to, going on past experience).
> > >>
> > >> This is the full legal spiel they have:
> > >> http://www.gene-regulation.com/pub/databases/transfac/doc/misc.html
> > >>
> > >> There's nothing about restrictions on using the data format, they
> > >> haven't tried to shut down the TFBS:: modules, and it would be
> > >> illegal
> > >> for them to do so according to fair use in many countries, their home
> > >> country of Germany especially. In short, the module itself would
> > >> not be
> > >> a problem. The only cause for concern is the test data, which is not
> > >> possible without express permission. I've asked for permission so
> > >> now we
> > >> just wait.
> > >
> > > Based on that you could proceed.  As long as the format itself isn't
> > > restricted you could create 'foo' data for the time being for tests.
> > >
> > > You might use some of the data from George Church's E. coli work
> > > converted
> > > to TRANSFAC format and matrices (just reference it if you do); I
> > > believe
> > > this is public domain (the data has been published).  Most of these
> > > are in
> > > the form of alignments only:
> > >
> > > http://arep.med.harvard.edu/ecoli_matrices/
> > >
> > > Chris
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Bioperl-l mailing list
> > > Bioperl-l at lists.open-bio.org
> > > http://lists.open-bio.org/mailman/listinfo/bioperl-l
> > >
> >
> > --
> > ===========================================================
> > : Hilmar Lapp  -:-  Durham, NC  -:-  hlapp at gmx dot net :
> > ===========================================================
> >
> >
> >
>
>
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>



-- 
Maximilian Haeussler,
CNRS/INRA Gif-sur-Yvette, France
tel: +33 6 12 82 76 16
skype: maximilianhaeussler



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