Array design data

In the microarray world, an array design defines the location and biological annotation of short DNA segment immobilized onto a surface by a spotter.

An array is divided in blocks, containing deposition from the spotter; array design data give information mainly about supports of hybridisation, called reporter following the MAGE terminology. It can be defined by its type, its biological sequence (biosequence), matching sequences, called composite sequence or hybridisation target genes and some annotations like accession numbers in databases. It should be note that a composite sequence can be match to several reporters, but usually a reporter match to only one composite sequence ("one to one relation").

Array design data are submitted to the repository in two file formats: Array design file[adfa] (ADF) and MAGE-ML[magb].