Find the gene record that you want in the NCBI Gene database. (If you are retrieving too many records, see these tips for searching for genes.) There are a few methods that will allow you to obtain the genomic sequence for the gene:
Method 1:
- Select the Full Report display (example).
- Scroll to the Genomic regions, transcripts, and products section.
- If there is an alternative genomic locus representing the gene, the Genomic Sequence information will expand into a pull-down menu, allowing you to select an alternative genomic record.
- Use Go to nucleotide: Graphics FASTA GenBank
- Select the record display format that you want. The GenBank display —not to be confused with a GenBank record— will display a flat file with annotation, followed by the sequence in numbered rows. To learn more about the sequence display formats, please see the following factsheet.
- The FASTA format will display the sequence. If you want to adjust the range to capture, modify the values in the Change region shown tool on the FASTA display and click on Update View. By expanding the region, you will be able to obtain upstream/downstream sequence of the gene.
Method 2:
- Select the Full Report display (example).
- Select the link to the NCBI Reference Sequences (RefSeq) from the Table of contents. The link will take you to the section of the Gene record that reports RefSeqs for the gene.
- Scroll to the section(s) labeled Genomic. There will be more than one Genomic section if there is an alternative genomic locus representing the gene. If you are working with a human gene, check if one of the available genomic sequence is named the RefSeqGene sequence. To locate the RefSeqGene sequence, check for the NG_ genomic sequence. To learn more about the NCBI RefSeqGene project, please see the project's home page and this factsheet.
- Select the genomic record that you want, and choose between the GenBank or FASTA Download. Proceed as in Method 1.
Method 3:
- Select the Full Report display (example).
- Scroll to the Genomic regions, transcripts, and products section.
- NCBI Sequence Viewer (graphics) displays the gene region as a line.
- Zoom on the part of the sequence of your interest (for example an exon of eukaryotic gene, indicated as a solid box in the graphics).
- Use the Tools button to display Sequence Text View.
Method 4:
- Change the record display from Full Report to Gene Table (the display menu is located on the left side above the record).
- If you are working with eukaryotic genes that have transcript variants, select the variant that you want and click on + to expand the exon table.
- Each exon/intron will have a live link to the corresponding genomic sequence.
For more information, see this video tutorial.