Note
This article is copy-pasted from ENA user manual <ftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/pub/databases/embl/doc/usrman.txt>
The ENA flat-file format¶
3.3 Structure of an Entry
The entries in the database are structured so as to be usable by human readers as well as by computer programs. The explanations, descriptions, classifications and other comments are in ordinary English, and the symbols and formatting employed for the base sequences themselves have been chosen for readability. Wherever possible, symbols familiar to molecular biologists have been used. At the same time, the structure is systematic enough to allow computer programs easily to read, identify, and manipulate the various types of data included. Each entry in the database is composed of lines. Different types of lines, each with its own format, are used to record the various types of data which make up the entry. In general, fixed format items have been kept to a minimum, and a more syntax-oriented structure adopted for the lines. The two exceptions to this are the sequence data lines and the feature table lines, for which a fixed format was felt to offer significant advantages to the user. Users who write programs to process the database entries should not make any assumptions about the column placement of items on lines other than these two: all other line types are free-format.
Note that each line begins with a two-character line code, which indicates the type of information contained in the line.
Example of an entry:
ID X56734; SV 1; linear; mRNA; STD; PLN; 1859 BP.
XX
AC X56734; S46826;
XX
DT 12-SEP-1991 (Rel. 29, Created)
DT 25-NOV-2005 (Rel. 85, Last updated, Version 11)
XX
DE Trifolium repens mRNA for non-cyanogenic beta-glucosidase
XX
KW beta-glucosidase.
XX
OS Trifolium repens (white clover)
OC Eukaryota; Viridiplantae; Streptophyta; Embryophyta; Tracheophyta;
OC Spermatophyta; Magnoliophyta; eudicotyledons; core eudicotyledons; rosids;
OC fabids; Fabales; Fabaceae; Papilionoideae; Trifolieae; Trifolium.
XX
RN [5]
RP 1-1859
RX DOI; 10.1007/BF00039495.
RX PUBMED; 1907511.
RA Oxtoby E., Dunn M.A., Pancoro A., Hughes M.A.;
RT "Nucleotide and derived amino acid sequence of the cyanogenic
RT beta-glucosidase (linamarase) from white clover (Trifolium repens L.)";
RL Plant Mol. Biol. 17(2):209-219(1991).
XX
RN [6]
RP 1-1859
RA Hughes M.A.;
RT ;
RL Submitted (19-NOV-1990) to the INSDC.
RL Hughes M.A., University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, Medical School, Newcastle
RL Upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, UK
XX
DR EuropePMC; PMC99098; 11752244.
XX
FH Key Location/Qualifiers
FH
FT source 1..1859
FT /organism="Trifolium repens"
FT /mol_type="mRNA"
FT /clone_lib="lambda gt10"
FT /clone="TRE361"
FT /tissue_type="leaves"
FT /db_xref="taxon:3899"
FT mRNA 1..1859
FT /experiment="experimental evidence, no additional details
FT recorded"
FT CDS 14..1495
FT /product="beta-glucosidase"
FT /EC_number="3.2.1.21"
FT /note="non-cyanogenic"
FT /db_xref="GOA:P26204"
FT /db_xref="InterPro:IPR001360"
FT /db_xref="InterPro:IPR013781"
FT /db_xref="InterPro:IPR017853"
FT /db_xref="InterPro:IPR018120"
FT /db_xref="UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot:P26204"
FT /protein_id="CAA40058.1"
FT /translation="MDFIVAIFALFVISSFTITSTNAVEASTLLDIGNLSRSSFPRGFI
FT FGAGSSAYQFEGAVNEGGRGPSIWDTFTHKYPEKIRDGSNADITVDQYHRYKEDVGIMK
FT DQNMDSYRFSISWPRILPKGKLSGGINHEGIKYYNNLINELLANGIQPFVTLFHWDLPQ
FT VLEDEYGGFLNSGVINDFRDYTDLCFKEFGDRVRYWSTLNEPWVFSNSGYALGTNAPGR
FT CSASNVAKPGDSGTGPYIVTHNQILAHAEAVHVYKTKYQAYQKGKIGITLVSNWLMPLD
FT DNSIPDIKAAERSLDFQFGLFMEQLTTGDYSKSMRRIVKNRLPKFSKFESSLVNGSFDF
FT IGINYYSSSYISNAPSHGNAKPSYSTNPMTNISFEKHGIPLGPRAASIWIYVYPYMFIQ
FT EDFEIFCYILKINITILQFSITENGMNEFNDATLPVEEALLNTYRIDYYYRHLYYIRSA
FT IRAGSNVKGFYAWSFLDCNEWFAGFTVRFGLNFVD"
XX
SQ Sequence 1859 BP; 609 A; 314 C; 355 G; 581 T; 0 other;
aaacaaacca aatatggatt ttattgtagc catatttgct ctgtttgtta ttagctcatt 60
cacaattact tccacaaatg cagttgaagc ttctactctt cttgacatag gtaacctgag 120
tcggagcagt tttcctcgtg gcttcatctt tggtgctgga tcttcagcat accaatttga 180
aggtgcagta aacgaaggcg gtagaggacc aagtatttgg gataccttca cccataaata 240
tccagaaaaa ataagggatg gaagcaatgc agacatcacg gttgaccaat atcaccgcta 300
caaggaagat gttgggatta tgaaggatca aaatatggat tcgtatagat tctcaatctc 360
ttggccaaga atactcccaa agggaaagtt gagcggaggc ataaatcacg aaggaatcaa 420
atattacaac aaccttatca acgaactatt ggctaacggt atacaaccat ttgtaactct 480
ttttcattgg gatcttcccc aagtcttaga agatgagtat ggtggtttct taaactccgg 540
tgtaataaat gattttcgag actatacgga tctttgcttc aaggaatttg gagatagagt 600
gaggtattgg agtactctaa atgagccatg ggtgtttagc aattctggat atgcactagg 660
aacaaatgca ccaggtcgat gttcggcctc caacgtggcc aagcctggtg attctggaac 720
aggaccttat atagttacac acaatcaaat tcttgctcat gcagaagctg tacatgtgta 780
taagactaaa taccaggcat atcaaaaggg aaagataggc ataacgttgg tatctaactg 840
gttaatgcca cttgatgata atagcatacc agatataaag gctgccgaga gatcacttga 900
cttccaattt ggattgttta tggaacaatt aacaacagga gattattcta agagcatgcg 960
gcgtatagtt aaaaaccgat tacctaagtt ctcaaaattc gaatcaagcc tagtgaatgg 1020
ttcatttgat tttattggta taaactatta ctcttctagt tatattagca atgccccttc 1080
acatggcaat gccaaaccca gttactcaac aaatcctatg accaatattt catttgaaaa 1140
acatgggata cccttaggtc caagggctgc ttcaatttgg atatatgttt atccatatat 1200
gtttatccaa gaggacttcg agatcttttg ttacatatta aaaataaata taacaatcct 1260
gcaattttca atcactgaaa atggtatgaa tgaattcaac gatgcaacac ttccagtaga 1320
agaagctctt ttgaatactt acagaattga ttactattac cgtcacttat actacattcg 1380
ttctgcaatc agggctggct caaatgtgaa gggtttttac gcatggtcat ttttggactg 1440
taatgaatgg tttgcaggct ttactgttcg ttttggatta aactttgtag attagaaaga 1500
tggattaaaa aggtacccta agctttctgc ccaatggtac aagaactttc tcaaaagaaa 1560
ctagctagta ttattaaaag aactttgtag tagattacag tacatcgttt gaagttgagt 1620
tggtgcacct aattaaataa aagaggttac tcttaacata tttttaggcc attcgttgtg 1680
aagttgttag gctgttattt ctattatact atgttgtagt aataagtgca ttgttgtacc 1740
agaagctatg atcataacta taggttgatc cttcatgtat cagtttgatg ttgagaatac 1800
tttgaattaa aagtcttttt ttattttttt aaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaa 1859
//
The currently used line types, along with their respective line codes, are listed below:
ID - identification |
(begins each entry; 1 per entry) |
AC - accession number |
(>=1 per entry) |
PR - project identifier |
(0 or 1 per entry) |
DT - date |
(2 per entry) |
DE - description |
(>=1 per entry) |
KW - keyword |
(>=1 per entry) |
OS - organism species |
(>=1 per entry) |
OC - organism classification |
(>=1 per entry) |
OG - organelle |
(0 or 1 per entry) |
RN - reference number |
(>=1 per entry) |
RC - reference comment |
(>=0 per entry) |
RP - reference positions |
(>=1 per entry) |
RX - reference cross-reference |
(>=0 per entry) |
RG - reference group |
(>=0 per entry) |
RA - reference author(s) |
(>=0 per entry) |
RT - reference title |
(>=1 per entry) |
RL - reference location |
(>=1 per entry) |
DR - database cross-reference |
(>=0 per entry) |
CC - comments or notes |
(>=0 per entry) |
AH - assembly header |
(0 or 1 per entry) |
AS - assembly information |
(0 or >=1 per entry) |
FH - feature table header |
(2 per entry) |
FT - feature table data |
(>=2 per entry) |
XX - spacer line |
(many per entry) |
SQ - sequence header |
(1 per entry) |
CO - contig/construct line |
(0 or >=1 per entry) |
bb - (blanks) sequence data |
(>=1 per entry) |
// - termination line |
(ends each entry; 1 per entry) |
Note that some entries will not contain all of the line types, and some line types occur many times in a single entry. As indicated, each entry begins with an identification line (ID) and ends with a terminator line (//). The various line types appear in entries in the order in which they are listed above (except for XX lines which may appear anywhere between the ID and SQ lines).