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Gene/Protein Nomenclature Guidelines
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Editor
Marcio C. Silva-Filho
E-mail: editor@gmb.org.br
Assistant Editor
Klaus Hartfelder
E-mail: editor@gmb.org.br
Editorial Office
Vania Marcia de Paula
Cristina de Morais
E-mail: editor@gmb.org.br
INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS
Gene/Protein Nomenclature Guidelines and Requirements for GMB Authors:
1. General Guidelines
- ALWAYS use approved gene/protein names and symbols in your paper (see below)
- ALWAYS check out every single gene/protein name and symbol in your paper (even if you have seen it published previously and think you know what it is)
- Sometimes the approved gene/protein name or symbol is no longer valid. In these cases, on first mention of the gene/protein, first use the approved designation and then add in parenthesis (previously known as xxx). Thereafter, use the correct symbol and not the previous designation.
2. Guidelines for Specific Species
Human/Non-human primates/Domestic species/and default for everything that is not a mouse, rat, fish, worm, or fly
Website for nomenclature rules and finding human gene (and mutant allele) symbols:
General rules:
- Full gene names are not italicized and Greek symbols are NEVER used
- eg: insulin-like growth factor 1
- Gene symbols
- Greek symbols are never used
- hyphens are almost never used
- gene symbols are italicized, all letters are in upper case
- eg: IGF1 (in italics)
- Proteins designations
- same as the gene symbol, but not italicized and, depending on species, all in upper case, but at least first letter in upper case
- eg: IGF1
- mRNA and cDNA use the gene symbol and formatting conventions
- eg: "... levels of IGF1 (in italics) mRNA increased when..."
Mouse/Rat/Chicken
Websites for nomenclature rules and finding gene (and mutant allele) symbols:
- (mouse, rat, and chicken) http://www.informatics.jax.org/
- (dedicated to rat) http://rgd.mcw.edu/
General nomenclature rules (applicable to mouse, rat, and chicken):
- Full gene names are not in italics and Greek symbols are NEVER used
- eg: insulin-like growth factor 1
- Gene symbols
- Greek symbols are never used
- hyphens are almost never used
- gene symbols are italicized, first letter upper case all the rest lower case
- eg: Igf1 (italicized)
- Proteins designations
- same as the gene symbol, but not italicized and all upper case
- eg: IGF1
- mRNA and cDNA use the gene symbol and formatting conventions
- eg: "... levels of Igf1 (italicized) mRNA increased when..."
- Mutant alleles should be defined when first mentioned
- eg: Igf1tm1Arge/Igf1tm1Arge (italicized) is one of several knockout alleles of Igf1 (italicized)
- All letters and numbers are italicized and the allelic designation (tm1Arge) is a superscript
- After initial specification, the homozygous KO can be indicated as Igf1-/- (all in italics and -/- as superscript); the heterozygote is Igf1+/- etc.
For more details on these nomenclature conventions, see:
- MGI Nomenclature page: http://www.informatics.jax.org/mgihome/nomen/index.shtml
- MGI Quick Guide for Genes:
http://www.informatics.jax.org/mgihome/nomen/short_gene.shtml
Fish (use for all fish)
Website for nomenclature rules and gene (and mutant allele) symbols
General rules:
- Full gene names are italicized, all lower case, NEVER use Greek symbols
- eg: cyclops (in italics)
- Gene symbols are italicized, all lower case
- eg: cyc (in italics)
- Protein designations are the same as the gene symbol, but first letter only upper case and not italicized
- eg: Cyc
Fly
Website for nomenclature rules and gene (and mutant allele) symbols