CRCNS data sharing: Comparative Neuromics of Gastropod Molluscs

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This award supports the preparation and sharing of computational neuroscience data as part of a new component of the CRCNS program aimed at catalyzing rapid and innovative advances in computational neuroscience and related fields. Through a collaborative effort of many laboratories, this project combines knowledge about the nervous systems of several important gastropod model systems, including Aplysia, Clione, Helisoma, Helix (Cantareus), Hermissenda, Limax, Lymnaea, Melibe, Pleurobranchaea, and Tritonia, in an effort to lay the foundation for future comparative neuromics in gastropods.Just as comparative genomics has enabled researchers to understand the evolution and development of organisms in terms of similarities and differences in their genomes, comparative neuromics, the comparison of neurons and their connections across species, offers unprecedented opportunities to increase our understanding of nervous system structure and function. Gastropod molluscs are uniquely suited for neuromic analysis because they have large individually identifiable neurons and work has proceeded for over four decades on species ranging from terrestrial and aquatic pulmonates to marine opisthobranchs, which inhabit diverse ecological niches. This project will consolidate the published knowledge about gastropod neurons and neural circuits into a searchable, extensible knowledge base, to be rendered in a format that can be federated with other knowledge repositories and primary data sources. This project will build on currently available web-based tools and coordinate with other related efforts, such as NeuronBank, Open Biomedical Ontologies, and neuroscience-specific ontologies being developed for the Biomedical Informatics Research Network and the Neuroscience Information Framework. The gastropod user community is involved in providing sources of information and testing the outcome of the project to assure the accuracy of the representation and the usability of the format. Consolidating the vast amount of accumulated knowledge about gastropod nervous systems is essential for the expanded use of these model organisms as genomic tools become available through the Aplysia genome project and other initiatives. This project will serve as a basis for federating other databases including neuronal morphology, neuronal and neural circuit computational simulations, and signal transduction pathways. It will also serve as a proof of concept for larger research communities with more disparate nervous systems.