The UCSC table browser data retrieval tool

Abstract

The University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) Table Browser (http://genome.ucsc.edu/cgi-bin/hgText) provides text-based access to a large collection of genome assemblies and annotation data stored in the Genome Browser Database. A flexible alternative to the graphical-based Genome Browser, this tool offers an enhanced level of query support that includes restrictions based on field values, free-form SQL queries and combined queries on multiple tables. Output can be filtered to restrict the fields and lines returned, and may be organized into one of several formats, including a simple tab-delimited file that can be loaded into a spreadsheet or database as well as advanced formats that may be uploaded into the Genome Browser as custom annotation tracks. The Table Browser User's Guide located on the UCSC website provides instructions and detailed examples for constructing queries and configuring output.