BmTEdb: a collective database of transposable elements in the silkworm genome

The silkworm, Bombyx mori, is one of the major insect model organisms, and its draft and fine genome sequences became available in 2004 and 2008, respectively. Transposable elements (TEs) constitute similar to 40% of the silkworm genome. To better understand the roles of TEs in organization, structure and evolution of the silkworm genome, we used a combination of de novo, structure-based and homology-based approaches for identification of the silkworm TEs and identified 1308 silkworm TE families. These TE families and their classification information were organized into a comprehensive and easy-to-use web-based database, BmTEdb. Users are entitled to browse, search and download the sequences in the database. Sequence analyses such as BLAST, HMMER and EMBOSS GetORF were also provided in BmTEdb. This database will facilitate studies for the silkworm genomics, the TE functions in the silkworm and the comparative analysis of the insect TEs.