Species‐Metabolite Relation Database KNApSAcK and Its Multifaceted Retrieval System, KNApSAcK Family

Abstract

In a metabolomics research, assignment of measured spectra to a specific metabolite is one of the most fundamental processes. The assignment is usually made by taking a match with known compounds, and therefore it is necessary to scan the spectra against whole previously studied compounds. This means the survey of whole natural products reported in the literature, which is an extremely tedious and daunting process. In order to make this process feasible, we have developed a metabolite database called KNApSAcK, which currently contains 76,357 species–metabolite relations involving 37,693 metabolites. In the present study, we review the current status of KNApSAcK database and its application to metabolomics and introduce the multifaceted retrieval system KNApSAcK family, which consists of seven parts for the purpose of retrieving metabolites from several different aspects. “Pocket” includes search system for species related to human living such as edible plants in Japan (“Lunch Box”), herb teas (“Tea Pot”, in progress), traditional Japanese medicine (“KAMPO”), poisonous plant (“Poison”, in progress), and bio-fuel resources (“Fuel”, in progress). “KNApSAcK from around the world” includes medicinal and edible plants utilized in each country. Seven thousand three hundred and fifty-six pairwise relations between medicinal/edible plants and 119 nations worldwide have been accumulated from scientific literatures. Keywords: KNApSAcK; spece-metabolite relation database; metabolomics