Around 30% of protein-coding genes in D. melanogaster encode enzymes, and at least 15% of the genome encodes factors involved in core metabolic pathways. Relevant FlyBase Gene Reports now show improved information on enzyme nomenclature and reactions, as well as links to metabolic pathway resources, which we hope will support the growing number of researchers working in these fields. (More)

Variation data from the Drosophila Genetics Reference Panel is now available as a track on JBrowse, providing information for 205 DGRP inbred lines. The track can be enabled by browsing to the “Genome Variation” section on the left panel of JBrowse and checking the box for “DGRP variants”. (More)

The published literature encapsulates years of research about biological systems but finding the relevant literature about a gene or a biological topic is not always straightforward. BioLitMine (see link in FlyBase home page sidebar) was implemented to help scientists to quickly mine the literature. Currently users will be able to find MeSH terms (biological or medical topics) associated with the input gene and the relevant literature under each MeSH topic, genes that are associated with any MeSH terms as well as the relevant literature. (More)

FlyBase is pleased to introduce 'Experimental Tool' reports, which will help you to easily find transgenic constructs with particular characteristics. Reports have been generated for commonly used sequences with useful properties that are exploited to study the biological function of another gene product or a biological process. These include tools that enable a gene product to be detected (e.g. the FLAG tag, EGFP, mCherry), target a gene product somewhere specific within a cell (e.g. nuclear localisation signal, signal sequence), drive expression in a binary system (e.g. UAS, GAL4) or enable clonal/conditional expression (e.g. FLP, FRT). Each Experimental Tool report provides a description of the tool and its uses, together with browsable tables of transgenic constructs that encode or carry that tool. (More)

FlyBase now displays a direct link to iProteinDB - see icon on front page. At iProteinDB, scientists can view the post-translational modification (PTM) landscape for any Drosophila protein and identify predicted functional phosphosites based on a comparative analysis of data from closely-related Drosophila species. Further, iProteinDB enables comparison of PTM data from Drosophila to that of orthologous proteins from other model organisms, including human, mouse, rat, Xenopus laevis, Danio rerio, and Caenorhabditis elegans. For detailed information see https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/08/07/386268. (More)