The access of more than 200 complete microbial genomes allows for gene function inferences exploring the chromosomal organization among species. To achieve this goal, the Genoscope has developed the MaGe (Magnifying Genomes) system.

MaGe is based on a relational database containing well-organized information on bacterial genomes, together with a graphically oriented web interface to achieve on-going community genome annotation projects. Its main features are:
  integration of annotation data from available bacterial genomes, the DNA sequence being systematically submitted to a gene coding re-annotation process using accurate gene models,
  integration of results obtained with a wide range of bioinformatics methods, including exploration of gene context by searching for synteny groups between the compared genomes (the Syntonizer method),
  and advanced graphical web interfaces for manual refinement of the automatic assignment of gene products.

The MaGe system has been first developed in the context of the annotation project for Acinetobacter sp. ADP1 genome. More than 60% of its predicted CoDing Sequences (CDSs) have been found in synteny groups with the compared genomes. This result allowed to make functional annotation dealing with gene context, and was particularly relevant in case of the low similarity results. To date, MaGe is used as a browser in order to explore updated annotation information of several available bacterial genomes and in the context of new annotation projects such as Pseudoalteromonas haloplanktis TAC125, Pseudomonas L58, and Frankia alni.