The present special issue of GMR includes selected papers from the X-meeting 2006, held in Fortaleza, CE, Brazil, together with the 14th Annual International Conference on Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB 2006). Dr. Goran Neshich, EMPRAPA, chaired this seminal event for the Brazilian bioinformatics community, co-chaired by Dr. Ana Tereza R. Vasconcelos from LNCC. The X-meeting is the annual meeting of the AB3C (Associação Brasileira de Bioinformática e Biologia Computacional), which is the regional group affiliated with the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB). Thus, AB3C has reached maturity as a Brazilian association engaged in the progress of bioinformatics and has therefore attained international recognition.

X-meeting 2006 held a technical session of paper presentations. A committee headed by Dr. Marcelo Santoro, UFMG, and Dr. Roberto Cesar, USP, received thirty-seven submitted papers and selected eighteen for presentation at the meeting. Further peer-review evaluation of all papers was carried out, and the accepted manuscripts were organized for a publication in Genetics and Molecular Research, in coordination with GMR co-editor, Dr. Vasco Azevedo, UFMG, and AB3C second secretary Dr. J. Miguel Ortega, UFMG. We are deeply indebted to all the reviewers who carefully read the papers and helped to improve their quality.

The support given by the Brazilian funding agencies CNPq, CAPES and FAPESP was fundamental for the participation of over 150 AB3C affiliates in the event, who also presented their work in the ISMB X-meeting 2006 poster sessions. It was nice to observe the Brazilian students participating as members of an international troupe. AB3C support for the whole event was remarkably substantial and essential, thus reinforcing its ambition of working for the progress of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology in Brazil and South America. Collaboration with GMR in the publication of the paper session also supports this aim and the history continues with the expectation of AB3C X-meeting 2007 in São Paulo Convention Center, being organized by the current AB3C board headed by Dr. Junior Barrera from USP. The AB3C X-meeting, together with other events on bioinformatics, such as SBBq, SBG, BSB, SBC, and Biomat conferences, show that the agenda for this research interest in Brazil is gaining maturity. This is, therefore, in consonance with the Brazilian graduate courses of LNCC, UFMG and USP, which already graduated the first Doctors in Bioinformatics in Brazil.

We wish that GMR readers will, therefore, appreciate this representative work from the Brazilian community of research scientists in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. Enjoy!

Guest Editors
Roberto M. Cesar-Jr., USP
Marcelo Santoro, UFMG