Question

SWISS-PROT, which provides detail sequence annotation including, structure, function and protein family assignment, is an example of

• A. Secondary database
• B. Primary database
• C. Specialized database
• D. Curated nucleotide sequence database

Hint:

Primary databases store "raw" sequence data (e.g., GenBank, EMBL, DDBJ).
Secondary databases store "curated/derived" data (e.g., SWISS-PROT, PROSITE, Pfam) which adds functional and structural annotations.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
Bioinformatics databases are broadly classified into primary, secondary, and specialized databases based on how the data is curated and organized.
Primary databases contain raw, unprocessed experimental data deposited directly by researchers, such as GenBank or EMBL.
Secondary databases contain curated, analyzed, and highly annotated information derived from the primary databases.

Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
Let us examine the classification of SWISS-PROT.
SWISS-PROT is a manually curated, non-redundant protein sequence database that provides high-quality annotations.
These annotations include protein function, domain structure, post-translational modifications, variants, and family assignments.
Because the information in SWISS-PROT is derived from primary sequence data (such as translated nucleotide sequences) and is heavily processed, verified, and annotated by experts, it is classified as a secondary database.
Primary databases like GenBank or UniParc contain raw, unannotated sequences, whereas SWISS-PROT provides curated biological context.
Additionally, it is a protein database, which means it cannot be classified as a curated nucleotide database.

Step 3: Final Answer:
SWISS-PROT is an example of a secondary database.
This corresponds to Option (A).