PlantCADB: A Comprehensive Plant Chromatin Accessibility Database

Abstract

Chromatin accessibility landscapes are essential for detecting regulatory elements, illustrating the corresponding regulatory networks, and, ultimately, understanding the molecular basis underlying key biological processes. With the advancement of sequencing technologies, a large volume of chromatin accessibility data has been accumulated and integrated for humans and other mammals. These data have greatly advanced the study of disease pathogenesis, cancer survival prognosis, and tissue development. To advance the understanding of molecular mechanisms regulating plant key traits and biological processes, we developed a comprehensive plant chromatin accessibility database (PlantCADB) from 649 samples of 37 species. These samples are abiotic stress-related (such as heat, cold, drought, and salt; 159 samples), development-related (232 samples), and/or tissue-specific (376 samples). Overall, 18,339,426 accessible chromatin regions (ACRs) were compiled. These ACRs were annotated with genomic information, associated genes, transcription factor footprint, motif, and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Additionally, PlantCADB provides various tools to visualize ACRs and corresponding annotations. It thus forms an integrated, annotated, and analyzed plant-related chromatin accessibility resource, which can aid in better understanding genetic regulatory networks underlying development, important traits, stress adaptations, and evolution. PlantCADB is freely available at https://bioinfor.nefu.edu.cn/PlantCADB/.