D656 Nucleic Acids Research, 2011, Vol. 39, Database issue Figure 2. Schematic overview of the data retrieval and curation process in ArachnoServer. Browsing based on phyletic speciﬁcity ArachnoServer includes a browse feature that initially enabled toxin records to be located on the basis of ‘Araneae Taxonomy, Molecular Targets and Posttranslational Modiﬁcations’. Each category creates a different browsing tree on the right hand side of the screen for easy selection of toxins. Toxins can now also be located on the basis of their ‘Phyletic Speciﬁcity’, that is, the range of organisms against which they are active. Choosing to browse by phyletic speciﬁcity creates a tree of organisms that includes ﬁve taxonomic levels: domain, class, order, genus and species. Selecting, for example the order Insecta will display all toxins with reported insecticidal activity. This new browse feature complements the ability to search for speciﬁc types of biological activity using the Advanced Search feature. Private silos We have created private silos, available upon request, for researchers actively involved in discovery and charac- terization of spider-venom toxins. These silos provide secure repositories for groups of researchers, enabling them to enter and manage their toxin sequences. Within a private silo, the nominated curators have access (via secure login) to the full suite of ArachnoServer curation tools and features, including the ability to securely BLAST their toxin sequences against the public ArachnoServer database. Toxin records within private silos remain strictly conﬁdential until a researcher decides to release a toxin card to the ArachnoServer curators. We anticipate that private silos will not only help toxinologists manage their intellectual property but will also enhance the quality of ArachnoServer records by ensuring that the initial curation is done by the researchers who discovered the toxin. User manual A detailed user manual is now available for download from the ArachnoServer website. The manual details the kind of data stored in ArachnoServer and how it is curated. The user manual explains all of the features available within ArachnoServer and it provides examples of browsing, advanced searches and BLAST searches. CURRENT STATUS OF ARACHNOSERVER ArachnoServer 2.0 currently manages 1078 protein sequences, 759 nucleic acid sequences and 56 protein structures, an increase from 567, 334 and 51, respectively, in version 1.0. Overall, this represents the largest single collection of spider toxin records in any online database. In addition, version 2.0 contains many more high- resolution images of spiders from which toxins in the database have been sourced. All images are downloadable and are freely available for academic use according to the creative commons noncommercial license. SUMMARY ArachnoServer was designed to be useful to scientists across a broad range of disciplines, including pharmaco- logists, neuroscientists, medicinal chemists, toxinologists, structural biologists and clinicians. Version 2.0 of the database increases its utility by including many new features, a large increase in the number of curated protein and nucleic acid sequences and the most up-to- date information available on proteinaceous spider toxins.