Tool to extract COG information/description

Question

[allerdrengen55]

I have list of different COG numbers, and would like to retrieve a list of the COG numbers, with their corresponding function. Is there a tool for this?¨

The COG numbers look like this (always 4 digits): COG:COG1132

Answer 1

[Mensur Dlakic]

This tab-delimited file has what you want.

Here is general hyperlink pattern for COGs:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Structure/cdd/cddsrv.cgi?uid=COG0001

By inserting your COG number instead of COG0001 you will get more detailed info.

[allerdrengen55]

Hi Mensur! That's exactly what I was looking for. I suppose a small script could easily fetch the right COGs from it. The A-Z letters are a very general categorization, right?

[Mensur Dlakic]

The letters are functional categories of COGs. Their meaning is described here.

[allerdrengen55]

I just realized, that some COGs have multiple letters. Is that because the gene harbors both categories or because it doesn't know where to put it?

[Mensur Dlakic]

It is because many proteins are multi-functional.