TrEMBL

TrEMBL, short for translated EMBL protein sequences, is a component of the UniProt Knowledgebase (UniProtKB) that contains automatically annotated protein sequences derived from the translation of nucleotide sequences in the EMBL nucleotide sequence database. It serves as a complement to UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot, which consists of manually reviewed protein entries. TrEMBL entries are produced by automated annotation pipelines and are not manually curated, so their functional descriptions, domains, and other annotations are predicted through computational methods.

The entries in TrEMBL cover proteins from a wide range of organisms and are updated regularly as new nucleotide sequences become available. Annotations are generated using sequence similarity, motif and domain recognition, and other automated analyses, with cross-references to related resources. Because the process is automated, TrEMBL entries may be revised as new information becomes available and are often preliminary compared with curated Swiss-Prot data.

Relationship to Swiss-Prot

Entries in TrEMBL may be reviewed and curated over time. If a TrEMBL entry passes manual curation, it can be transferred to UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot, where the information is refined and validated. In this way, TrEMBL provides rapid, comprehensive coverage of newly available sequences while Swiss-Prot serves as a high-quality, manually curated resource.

Access and scope

TrEMBL is freely accessible through the UniProt website as part of UniProtKB. It is integrated with other UniProt resources and linked to EMBL-EBI and other external databases, enabling researchers to explore newly sequenced proteins alongside curated entries.