CauloBrowser 2.0: an AI powered update

Abstract

CauloBrowser is a systems-biology database for Caulobacter crescentus that organizes the largest repository of experimental data for this model bacterium. The original CauloBrowser provided a web interface for accessing these data, but the growing number of experimental datasets and advances in AI chatbots motivated an updated resource. We developed CauloBrowser 2.0 (CauloBrowser.org) as an open-source application that broadens access to RNA-seq, microarray, ribosome profiling, Tn-seq, ChIP-seq, and genome annotation data. The CauloChat AI interface allows users to query these datasets in natural language, generate visualizations, and achieve complex biological insights. While the database is hosted freely on the web, users may also download the database and run it locally, reducing dependence on the web-hosted service and allowing laboratories to use compatible unpublished datasets. Altogether, CauloBrowser 2.0 provides a significant update for exploring diverse systems biology data in C. crescentus.