NCBI Reference Sequence (RefSeq)

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Brief Description
Scope
Announcements
Access and Availability
Distinguishing Features
References

NCBI Reference Sequences

The Reference Sequence (RefSeq) collection aims to provide a comprehensive, integrated, non-redundant, well-annotated set of sequences, including genomic DNA, transcripts, and proteins. RefSeq is a foundation for medical, functional, and diversity studies; they provide a stable reference for genome annotation, gene identification and characterization, mutation and polymorphism analysis (especially RefSeqGene records), expression studies, and comparative analyses. [more...]

Scope

NCBI provides RefSeqs for taxonomically diverse organisms including eukaryotes, bacteria, and viruses.

Announcements

May 10, 2012: RefSeq Release 53 available for FTP

This release includes:

Proteins:	15,744,232
Organisms:	17,339
Available at:	ftp://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/refseq/release/

To receive announcements of future RefSeq releases and incremental large updates please subscribe to NCBI's refseq-announce mail list: refseq-announce

Announcing the Consensus Coding Sequence (CCDS) database. More information is available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/CCDS/

BLAST databases: Formatted genomic, mRNA, and protein RefSeq BLAST databases are available for FTP.

announcing HIV-1 protein interaction data, more information at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/RefSeq/HIVInteractions/index.html

Data Access and Availability

RefSeq is accessible via BLAST, Entrez, and the NCBI FTP site. Information is also available in Entrez Genomes and Entrez Gene, and for some genomes additional information is available in the Map Viewer. Special properties have been defined to facilitate Entrez-based retrieval. Also see: Entrez Query Hints

Distinguishing Features

The main features of the RefSeq collection include:

blank spacer gif non-redundancy

explicitly linked nucleotide and protein sequences

updates to reflect current knowledge of sequence data and biology

data validation and format consistency

distinct accession series (all accessions include an underscore '_' character)

blank spacer gif ongoing curation by NCBI staff and collaborators, with reviewed records indicated

References

Please refer to the Publications page for a full list of articles describing or using the RefSeq dataset. When using the RefSeq database, please cite one of the following:

The NCBI handbook [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US), National Center for Biotechnology Information; 2002 Oct. Chapter 18, The Reference Sequence (RefSeq) Project. Available from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=Books

NCBI Reference Sequences: current status, policy, and new initiatives.
Pruitt KD, Tatusova T, Klimke W, Maglott DR
Nucleic Acids Res 2009 Jan;37(Database issue):D32-6
[Full Text in PubMed Central]