European Nucleotide Archive

European Nucleotide Archive (ENA)
Content
DescriptionComprehensive archive of nucleotide sequences, annotations and associated data.
Data types
captured
Nucleotide sequence, functional annotation, sequencing reads and sequencer information, sample details, other related records.
OrganismsAll
Contact
Research centerEuropean Bioinformatics Institute
LaboratoryPANDA Group
Primary citationPMID 20972220
Release dateApril 1982
Access
Data formatXML
FASTQ
EMBL-Bank format
WebsiteENA
Download URLENA download
Web service URLENA browser
Tools
StandaloneCRAM toolkit
Miscellaneous
LicenseUnrestricted

The European Nucleotide Archive (ENA) is a repository providing free and unrestricted access to annotated DNA and RNA sequences. It also stores complementary information such as experimental procedures, details of sequence assembly and other metadata related to sequencing projects.[1] The archive is composed of three main databases: the Sequence Read Archive, the Trace Archive and the EMBL Nucleotide Sequence Database (also known as EMBL-bank).[2] The ENA is produced and maintained by the European Bioinformatics Institute and is a member of the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration (INSDC) along with the DNA Data Bank of Japan and GenBank.

The ENA has grown out of the EMBL Data Library which was released in 1982 as the first internationally supported resource for nucleotide sequence data.[3] As of early 2012, the ENA and other INSDC member databases each contained complete genomes of 5,682 organisms and sequence data for almost 700,000.[4] Moreover, the volume of data is increasing exponentially with a doubling time of approximately 10 months.[5]

  1. ^ Cochrane, G.; Akhtar, R.; Aldebert, P.; Althorpe, N.; Baldwin, A.; Bates, K.; Bhattacharyya, S.; Bonfield, J.; Bower, L. (2007). "Priorities for nucleotide trace, sequence and annotation data capture at the Ensembl Trace Archive and the EMBL Nucleotide Sequence Database". Nucleic Acids Research. 36 (Database): D5–D12. doi:10.1093/nar/gkm1018. ISSN 0305-1048. PMC 2238915. PMID 18039715.
  2. ^ EMBL-EBI. "EMBL Nucleotide Sequence Database". Retrieved 2013-01-08.
  3. ^ Hamm, G. H.; Cameron, G. N. (1986). "The EMBL data library". Nucleic Acids Research. 14 (1): 5–9. doi:10.1093/nar/14.1.5. PMC 339348. PMID 3945550.
  4. ^ Cochrane, Guy; Cook, Charles E; Birney, Ewan (2012). "The future of DNA sequence archiving". GigaScience. 1 (1): 2. doi:10.1186/2047-217X-1-2. ISSN 2047-217X. PMC 3617450. PMID 23587147.
  5. ^ Cochrane, G.; Alako, B.; Amid, C.; Bower, L.; Cerdeno-Tarraga, A.; Cleland, I.; Gibson, R.; Goodgame, N.; Jang, M. (2012). "Facing growth in the European Nucleotide Archive". Nucleic Acids Research. 41 (D1): D30–D35. doi:10.1093/nar/gks1175. ISSN 0305-1048. PMC 3531187. PMID 23203883.