Annotating an Open Reading Frame

Manual curation of the ERGO^TM database will often involve annotating or changing the annotation of an open reading frame. An open reading frame is annotated as follows:

• On a protein page, click on the downward-facing arrow on the Annotate Panel (Figure 1 and 2).

Figure 1: Example of a Protein Page

Figure 2: Opening the Annotation Panel

• The screen will refresh and the Annotate Panel will expand (Figure 3). In this panel, the user may type the appropriate function in the Function field. Alternatively, the user may choose from a drop-down menu a predefined function.

Figure 3: Completing the Annotation Panel

• It is highly recommended that the user provides a brief justification or rationale behind the particular choice of function. This allows other curators to understand the reasoning behind the annotation.
• A user may assign a particular confidence level to an annotation. The default confidence is Normal (black). If the open reading frame clearly lies within a specific operon, the user may set the confidence for Operon (blue-green). If the annotation is supported by published data, then a Strong (green) confidence may be assigned. In this case, the user should provide a hyperlink to the specific reference in the comment section of the panel. If the evidence for the annotation is weak, a Weak confidence (orange) may be assigned. Lastly, the user may choose not to assign a confidence level, in which case the Do Not Assign Confidence option is selected.
• Upon completing the annotation, click the Submit Function button to apply the annotation.