High-throughput genomics has increased the number of completed genomic sequences to over 800 bacterial species. In proteomics, the use of a correct dataset determines the outcome of an experiment. However, the use of different bioinformatic approaches to annotate a gene or open reading frame (ORF) results in divergent gene annotations, even for data generated from the same genomic sequences. There are also examples of observed proteins that were not annotated. Characterization of clinical isolates with many specific genetic variations is suboptimal if they are not represented in the selected database. Therefore, it is crucial to provide protein databases that can cover annotation errors and genetic variations among closely related organisms.

This page contains mass spectrometry friendly databases for improving proteomic characterization of prokaryotic microbes.