Gene names often have single quotes like 5'-methylthioadenosine phosphorylase ATP synthase B' chain ppGpp 3'-pyrophosphohydrolase so maybe try adding quote="" to the read table options. Chris Stubben -- View this message in context: http://r.789695.n4.nabble.com/R-eat-my-data-tp2230217p2230303.html Sent from the R help mailing list archive at Nabble.com.