PaperBLAST – Find papers about a protein or its homologs

 

PaperBLAST

PaperBLAST Hits for RR42_RS24425 (71 a.a., MDGTTRAQIL...)

Other sequence analysis tools:

Find functional residues: SitesBLAST

Search for conserved domains

Find the best match in UniProt

Compare to protein structures

Predict transmenbrane helices: Phobius

Predict protein localization: PSORTb

Find homologs in fast.genomics

Fitness BLAST: loading...

Found 60 similar proteins in the literature:

PSPA7_2630 TetR family transcriptional regulator from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA7
41% identity, 31% coverage

NIS_RS00380 TetR/AcrR family transcriptional regulator from Nitratiruptor sp. SB155-2
39% identity, 32% coverage

WP_004080830 TetR/AcrR family transcriptional regulator from Thermotoga sp. EMP
TM0823 transcriptional regulator, TetR family from Thermotoga maritima MSB8
43% identity, 28% coverage

PsrA / VIMSS583573 PsrA regulator of Fatty acid degradation, effector Oleate (repressor) from Dechloromonas aromatica RCB
39% identity, 28% coverage

Rv1685c hypothetical protein from Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv
42% identity, 29% coverage

MSMEG_3765 transcriptional regulator from Mycobacterium smegmatis str. MC2 155
44% identity, 28% coverage

SACE_0820 TetR-family transcriptional regulator from Saccharopolyspora erythraea NRRL 2338
42% identity, 26% coverage

cg1098 TetR family regulatory protein from Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC 13032
48% identity, 24% coverage

RutR / VIMSS7086436 RutR regulator of Pyrimidine utilization, effector Uracil (activator/repressor) from Burkholderia phymatum STM815
41% identity, 25% coverage

BB1797 Putative TetR-family regulatory protein from Bordetella bronchiseptica RB50
41% identity, 29% coverage

P354_12810 TetR/AcrR family transcriptional regulator from Streptomyces noursei PD-1
42% identity, 25% coverage

SCO3346 transcriptional regulator from Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2)
40% identity, 28% coverage

DVU0057 / VIMSS8505916 DVU0057 from Desulfovibrio salexigens DSM 2638
37% identity, 31% coverage

SCO3129 TetR-family transcriptional regulator from Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2)
42% identity, 26% coverage

PsrA / VIMSS2702720 PsrA regulator of Fatty acid degradation, effector Oleate (repressor) from Idiomarina baltica OS145
45% identity, 24% coverage

MCOL_RS22650 TetR/AcrR family transcriptional regulator from Mycobacterium colombiense CECT 3035
42% identity, 29% coverage

lmo1962 similar to transcription regulators (TetR family) from Listeria monocytogenes EGD-e
41% identity, 27% coverage

Psyr_1780 regulatory protein, TetR from Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae B728a
48% identity, 25% coverage

NP_215535 transcriptional regulator from Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv
Rv1019 PROBABLE TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATORY PROTEIN (PROBABLY TETR-FAMILY) from Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv
43% identity, 29% coverage

PsrA / VIMSS839393 PsrA regulator of Fatty acid degradation, effector Oleate (repressor) from Colwellia psychrerythraea 34H
40% identity, 28% coverage

PsrA / VIMSS572739 PsrA regulator of Fatty acid degradation, effector Oleate (repressor) from Rhodopseudomonas palustris CGA009
42% identity, 29% coverage

MSMEG_5424 transcriptional regulator, TetR family protein from Mycobacterium smegmatis str. MC2 155
A0R3C6 Transcriptional regulator, TetR family protein from Mycolicibacterium smegmatis (strain ATCC 700084 / mc(2)155)
35% identity, 30% coverage

VCA0767 transcriptional regulator, TetR family from Vibrio cholerae O1 biovar eltor str. N16961
38% identity, 25% coverage

Q8VV87 LexA repressor-like protein from Terrabacter sp.
38% identity, 20% coverage

PsrA / VIMSS862841 PsrA regulator of Fatty acid degradation, effector Oleate (repressor) from Idiomarina loihiensis L2TR
46% identity, 24% coverage

DVU0436 / VIMSS209372 DVU0436 from Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough
DVU0436 transcriptional regulator, TetR family from Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough
35% identity, 28% coverage

Rv0144 PROBABLE TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATORY PROTEIN (POSSIBLY TETR-FAMILY) from Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv
38% identity, 21% coverage

MAP3562 hypothetical protein from Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis str. k10
42% identity, 25% coverage

MAV_5151 transcriptional regulator, TetR family protein from Mycobacterium avium 104
42% identity, 25% coverage

RutR / VIMSS908916 RutR regulator of Pyrimidine utilization, effector Uracil (repressor) from Silicibacter pomeroyi DSS-3
42% identity, 28% coverage

PsrA / VIMSS3565141 PsrA regulator of Fatty acid degradation, effector Oleate (repressor) from Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida A449
40% identity, 29% coverage

CCNA_00337 transcriptional regulator, TetR family from Caulobacter crescentus NA1000
47% identity, 19% coverage

PsrA / VIMSS736161 PsrA regulator of Fatty acid degradation, effector Oleate (repressor) from Burkholderia mallei ATCC 23344
38% identity, 20% coverage

DVU0057 / VIMSS8501435 DVU0057 from Desulfovibrio vulgaris str. Miyazaki F
39% identity, 21% coverage

BAB1_0578 Bacterial regulatory protein TetR, HTH motif from Brucella melitensis biovar Abortus 2308
36% identity, 35% coverage

VPA0806 transcriptional regulator, TetR family from Vibrio parahaemolyticus RIMD 2210633
WP_005478460 efflux transporter transcriptional repressor VdeR from Vibrio parahaemolyticus RIMD 2210633
39% identity, 26% coverage

BCAL1542 TetR family regulatory protein from Burkholderia cenocepacia J2315
38% identity, 23% coverage

SCO2223 tetR-family transcriptional regulator from Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2)
36% identity, 25% coverage

Q8YFY3 HTH-type transcriptional regulator BetI from Brucella melitensis biotype 1 (strain ATCC 23456 / CCUG 17765 / NCTC 10094 / 16M)
BMEI1379 REGULATORY PROTEIN BETI from Brucella melitensis 16M
37% identity, 34% coverage

BCAN_A0566 HTH-type transcriptional regulator betI from Brucella canis ATCC 23365
37% identity, 34% coverage

RutR / VIMSS1776949 RutR regulator of Pyrimidine utilization, effector Uracil (activator/repressor) from Ralstonia metallidurans CH34
46% identity, 23% coverage

CG479_RS07860 TetR/AcrR family transcriptional regulator from Bacillus cytotoxicus
40% identity, 32% coverage

NGR_RS06710 CerR family C-terminal domain-containing protein from Sinorhizobium fredii NGR234
44% identity, 24% coverage

SACE_5754 transcriptional regulator, TetR family from Saccharopolyspora erythraea NRRL 2338
43% identity, 26% coverage

AcrR / VIMSS551346 AcrR regulator of Multidrug resistance, effector Rhodamine 6G; Ethidium bromide; Proflavin (repressor) from Photorhabdus luminescens TTO1
38% identity, 29% coverage

PsrA / VIMSS7086604 PsrA regulator of Fatty acid degradation, effector Oleate (repressor) from Burkholderia phymatum STM815
38% identity, 23% coverage

JIP62_11565 TetR/AcrR family transcriptional regulator from Brevundimonas vitisensis
40% identity, 22% coverage

PsrA / VIMSS6896230 PsrA regulator of Fatty acid degradation, effector Oleate (repressor) from Alteromonas macleodii 'Deep ecotype'
37% identity, 32% coverage

K2Z90_RS14485 TetR/AcrR family transcriptional regulator from Rhodococcus opacus PD630
39% identity, 26% coverage

FASR_MYCS2 / A0QTR3 HTH-type transcriptional activator FasR; Fatty acid synthesis regulator from Mycolicibacterium smegmatis (strain ATCC 700084 / mc(2)155) (Mycobacterium smegmatis) (see paper)
MSMEG_1935 TetR-family protein transcriptional regulator from Mycobacterium smegmatis str. MC2 155
37% identity, 27% coverage

SM_b21208 putative transcriptional regulator, TetR family protein from Sinorhizobium meliloti 1021
42% identity, 23% coverage

MAB_3527 Putative transcriptional regulator, TetR family from Mycobacterium abscessus ATCC 19977
35% identity, 27% coverage

PA14_35210 putative transcriptional regulator, TetR family from Pseudomonas aeruginosa UCBPP-PA14
39% identity, 30% coverage

YE105_C1162 multidrug efflux transporter transcriptional repressor AcrR from Yersinia enterocolitica subsp. palearctica 105.5R(r)
44% identity, 25% coverage

RutR / VIMSS3134196 RutR regulator of Pyrimidine utilization, effector Uracil (repressor) from Alteromonadales bacterium TW-7
41% identity, 23% coverage

SMc01819 PUTATIVE TRANSCRIPTION REGULATOR PROTEIN from Sinorhizobium meliloti 1021
37% identity, 30% coverage

WP_021595170 TetR/AcrR family transcriptional regulator from Actinomadura madurae LIID-AJ290
43% identity, 24% coverage

RutR / VIMSS6896853 RutR regulator of Pyrimidine utilization, effector Uracil (repressor) from Alteromonas macleodii 'Deep ecotype'
40% identity, 24% coverage

AFA_03875 TetR/AcrR family transcriptional regulator from Alcaligenes faecalis
36% identity, 34% coverage

MCOL_RS23260 TetR/AcrR family transcriptional regulator from Mycobacterium colombiense CECT 3035
44% identity, 29% coverage

New Search

For advice on how to use these tools together, see Interactive tools for functional annotation of bacterial genomes.

Statistics

The PaperBLAST database links 793,807 different protein sequences to 1,259,118 scientific articles. Searches against EuropePMC were last performed on March 13 2025.

How It Works

PaperBLAST builds a database of protein sequences that are linked to scientific articles. These links come from automated text searches against the articles in EuropePMC and from manually-curated information from GeneRIF, UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot, BRENDA, CAZy (as made available by dbCAN), BioLiP, CharProtDB, MetaCyc, EcoCyc, TCDB, REBASE, the Fitness Browser, and a subset of the European Nucleotide Archive with the /experiment tag. Given this database and a protein sequence query, PaperBLAST uses protein-protein BLAST to find similar sequences with E < 0.001.

To build the database, we query EuropePMC with locus tags, with RefSeq protein identifiers, and with UniProt accessions. We obtain the locus tags from RefSeq or from MicrobesOnline. We use queries of the form "locus_tag AND genus_name" to try to ensure that the paper is actually discussing that gene. Because EuropePMC indexes most recent biomedical papers, even if they are not open access, some of the links may be to papers that you cannot read or that our computers cannot read. We query each of these identifiers that appears in the open access part of EuropePMC, as well as every locus tag that appears in the 500 most-referenced genomes, so that a gene may appear in the PaperBLAST results even though none of the papers that mention it are open access. We also incorporate text-mined links from EuropePMC that link open access articles to UniProt or RefSeq identifiers. (This yields some additional links because EuropePMC uses different heuristics for their text mining than we do.)

For every article that mentions a locus tag, a RefSeq protein identifier, or a UniProt accession, we try to select one or two snippets of text that refer to the protein. If we cannot get access to the full text, we try to select a snippet from the abstract, but unfortunately, unique identifiers such as locus tags are rarely provided in abstracts.

PaperBLAST also incorporates manually-curated protein functions:

Except for GeneRIF and ENA, the curated entries include a short curated description of the protein's function. For entries from BioLiP, the protein's function may not be known beyond binding to the ligand. Many of these entries also link to articles in PubMed.

For more information see the PaperBLAST paper (mSystems 2017) or the code. You can download PaperBLAST's database here.

Changes to PaperBLAST since the paper was written:

Many of these changes are described in Interactive tools for functional annotation of bacterial genomes.

Secrets

PaperBLAST cannot provide snippets for many of the papers that are published in non-open-access journals. This limitation applies even if the paper is marked as "free" on the publisher's web site and is available in PubmedCentral or EuropePMC. If a journal that you publish in is marked as "secret," please consider publishing elsewhere.

Omissions from the PaperBLAST Database

Many important articles are missing from PaperBLAST, either because the article's full text is not in EuropePMC (as for many older articles), or because the paper does not mention a protein identifier such as a locus tag, or because of PaperBLAST's heuristics. If you notice an article that characterizes a protein's function but is missing from PaperBLAST, please notify the curators at UniProt or add an entry to GeneRIF. Entries in either of these databases will eventually be incorporated into PaperBLAST. Note that to add an entry to UniProt, you will need to find the UniProt identifier for the protein. If the protein is not already in UniProt, you can ask them to create an entry. To add an entry to GeneRIF, you will need an NCBI Gene identifier, but unfortunately many prokaryotic proteins in RefSeq do not have corresponding Gene identifers.

References

PaperBLAST: Text-mining papers for information about homologs.
M. N. Price and A. P. Arkin (2017). mSystems, 10.1128/mSystems.00039-17.

Europe PMC in 2017.
M. Levchenko et al (2017). Nucleic Acids Research, 10.1093/nar/gkx1005.

Gene indexing: characterization and analysis of NLM's GeneRIFs.
J. A. Mitchell et al (2003). AMIA Annu Symp Proc 2003:460-464.

UniProt: the universal protein knowledgebase.
The UniProt Consortium (2016). Nucleic Acids Research, 10.1093/nar/gkw1099.

BRENDA in 2017: new perspectives and new tools in BRENDA.
S. Placzek et al (2017). Nucleic Acids Research, 10.1093/nar/gkw952.

The EcoCyc database: reflecting new knowledge about Escherichia coli K-12.
I. M. Keeseler et al (2016). Nucleic Acids Research, 10.1093/nar/gkw1003.

The MetaCyc database of metabolic pathways and enzymes.
R. Caspi et al (2018). Nucleic Acids Research, 10.1093/nar/gkx935.

CharProtDB: a database of experimentally characterized protein annotations.
R. Madupu et al (2012). Nucleic Acids Research, 10.1093/nar/gkr1133.

The carbohydrate-active enzymes database (CAZy) in 2013.
V. Lombard et al (2014). Nucleic Acids Research, 10.1093/nar/gkt1178.

The Transporter Classification Database (TCDB): recent advances
M. H. Saier, Jr. et al (2016). Nucleic Acids Research, 10.1093/nar/gkv1103.

REBASE - a database for DNA restriction and modification: enzymes, genes and genomes.
R. J. Roberts et al (2015). Nucleic Acids Research, 10.1093/nar/gku1046.

Deep annotation of protein function across diverse bacteria from mutant phenotypes.
M. N. Price et al (2016). bioRxiv, 10.1101/072470.

by Morgan Price, Arkin group
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory