How do I cite a custom blast database?

[bastianwur]

Hi everyone,

I have a small problem.
I'm trying to finish writing a paper, and one of the remaining questions is how to deal with custom blast databases.
e.g. a simple thing: I use the human genome to screen for contamination in my bacterial data. I could cite the paper related to the version I use, but do I have to?
More complicated: For taxonomy assignment, I used e.g. the bacterial draft genomes and the protozoa genomes from the NCBI. Obviously I cannot cite a few hundred papers (and if so, should have read them...no way) for that. How do I deal with that? Do I need to cite anything in this case?
Right now the paper says something along the line "screened against all the draft bacterial genomes from the NCBI (download XX.YY.ZZZZ)".

I actually cannot remember anyone citing anything in these regards, but maybe my memory is bad. Or nobody did. And if so, it doesn't mean that you shouldn't.

Any recommendations or thoughts?

Thanks

[GenoMax]

So citing blast+ paper which has the method/software that was used to create the database should be the way to go? You can provide what went into the custom database in a supplementary materials table (source links).

[bastianwur]

I've for sure already cited the altschul paper ^^.
An appendix with the genomes/accession numbers sounds like a potentially good idea (although annoying) .

But it's more about the citation. Do I need to cite the paper for homo sapiens, if I just use it for screening? (and if yes: Then I'd need to cite the few thousand bacterial paper too).

[GenoMax]

As long as you are including Genbank Accession numbers of the sequences that should be adequate. Unless you are using something else (beyond just sequence) from the papers.