eggNOG

What eggNOG is

eggNOG (evolutionary genealogy of genes: Non-supervised Orthologous Groups) is a biological database hosted by the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). Created in 2007, it expands upon the concept of clusters of orthologous groups (COGs) by constructing non-supervised orthology clusters across thousands of organisms.

The resource provides orthology assignments, phylogenetic trees, and functional annotations across a wide range of taxonomic resolutions, spanning from the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) down to individual species. It serves researchers conducting comparative genomics and functional prediction studies.

How it is organised

eggNOG builds upon the original COG methodology by computing non-supervised orthologous groups across tens of thousands of organisms. It resolves hierarchical orthology relationships alongside functional predictions and phylogenetic trees at multiple taxonomic ranks, starting from LUCA down to species level.

Key facts

What you can use it for

Comparative genomics

Comparing orthology assignments across diverse species to study evolutionary relationships and gene diversification.

Functional annotation and prediction

Querying proteins, gene identifiers, or biological terms to infer functional characteristics based on orthologous group members.

Phylogenetic analysis

Examining precomputed phylogenetic trees across gene families to assess evolutionary trajectories.

Query it here

The research agent queries eggNOG directly — no account, no API key — and every answer links back to the record it came from. Ask in plain language and it writes the query.

Strengths and limits

Questions