GETDB, a database compiling expression patterns and molecular locations of a collection of gal4 enhancer traps

Regulatory genes important for development and physiology are often transcribed in tissue- and temporary-specific manners. Differential gene expression is therefore an important aspect of genome function in multicellular organisms. Transcriptional enhancers are often difficult to identify by a simple survey of genomic sequences since their nucleotide sequence are not well conserved and may be located several tens of kilobases from the site of transcription initiation. Enhancer trapping detects chromosomal enhancer elements in situ with minimal perturbations of the genome structure. A database of enhancer trap elements compiling their expression patterns and precise genomic locations should be extremely useful for studies of gene expression and genome analyses. A previous study analyzed 1,045 lethal insertions of a P-lacZ enhancer trap element. We report here a set of data obtained from analyses of 4,615 independent insertions of the P{GawB} enhancer trap element.