WormBase: an evolving resource for nematode biology

现代医学的许多发展都是基于过去50年来我们对基因如何工作的理解所取得的巨大进步。例如，药物与基因相互作用，改变生物系统的功能。导致这一进展的许多研究很难或不可能在人类身上进行。因为所有动物都有共同的进化起源，对简单动物的研究有助于理解人类生物学。某些关键的模式生物一直是深入研究的焦点，一些最重要的进展是在极其简单的动物身上取得的。其中一种是微小的蛔虫或线虫，秀丽隐杆线虫。秀丽隐杆线虫的研究得到了MRC 40多年的战略支持，在过去的五年中获得了两项诺贝尔奖，并且是我们理解细胞死亡和衰老等基本过程的关键贡献者。除了与理解动物生物学相关外，对秀丽隐杆线虫的研究对我们理解其他线虫的生物学尤为重要。在全球范围内，有超过10亿人感染了线虫寄生虫，包括血液传播的丝虫病，如引起河盲症的盘尾丝虫病和引起象皮病的乌氏菌；以及肠内线虫，如钩虫、鞭虫和巨型圆虫。感染通常与贫穷有关，并助长贫穷。对于大多数寄生线虫来说，在实验室中维持完整的生命周期要么是困难的，要么是不可能的，而且很少有分子工具存在。因此，研究人员高度依赖于秀丽隐杆线虫的功能研究及其对姐妹分类群寄生虫的外推（通过序列同源性）。基因研究通过获得被研究生物的完整DNA序列（基因组）而发生了革命性的变化，其中包含了所有的基因序列。秀丽隐杆线虫是第一个进行基因组测序的动物，现在主要的项目正在收集寄生物种的基因组序列。要使用基因组序列和所有关于基因的新信息，需要将DNA信息与实验数据联系在一起，并将动物之间的相应基因联系起来的信息资源。该应用程序将支持和开发虫库（线虫所有基因组和生物学数据的参考信息资源），并对其进行扩展，使管理越来越多的线虫寄生虫的基因组和实验信息成为可能。无论是对以秀丽隐杆线虫为模型的基础研究，还是对引起疾病的线虫的研究，WormBase都是必不可少的。通过将线虫研究的这两个分支联系起来，WormBase将处于独特的地位，通过应用为线虫开发的信息、经验和技术基础设施，使寄生虫的数据在社区范围内得到利用。

Many developments in modern medicine are based on the enormous progress made over the last 50 years in our understanding of how our genes work. For example, drugs interact with genes to change how biological systems function. Much of the research that has led to this progress is hard or impossible to do in humans. Because all animals share evolutionary origins, study of simple animals helps to understand human biology. Certain key model organisms have been the focus of intensive study, and some of the most important progress has been made with extremely simple animals. One of these is the tiny roundworm, or nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans. C. elegans research has been strategically supported by the MRC for over 40 years, leading to two Nobel prizes in the last five years, and is a key contributor to our understanding of basic processes such as cell death and aging.In addition to its relevance for understanding animal biology, research on C. elegans is particularly important to our understanding of the biology of other nematodes. Globally, more than one billion people are infected with nematode parasites, including blood-borne filarial parasites, such as Onchocerca that causes river blindness, and Wuchereria that cause elephantiasis; as well as intestinal nematodes such as hookworms, whipworms and giant round worms. Typically infections are associated with and promote poverty. For most parasitic nematodes, maintaining full life cycles in the laboratory is either difficult or impossible and few molecular tools exist. Thus researchers are highly reliant on functional studies in C. elegans and their extrapolation (via sequence homology) into the parasites of sister taxa.Genetic research has been revolutionized by obtaining the complete DNA sequence (the genome) of the organism being studied, which contains all the gene sequences. C. elegans was the first animal to have its genome sequenced and now major programmes are collecting genome sequences for parasitic species. To use genome sequences and all the new information about genes requires information resources that tie together DNA information with experimental data, and relate corresponding genes across animals. This application will enable the support and development of WormBase, the reference information resource for all genomic and biological data for C. elegans, and its expansion to enable the curation of genomic and experimental information for increasing numbers of nematode parasites. WormBase is essential both for fundamental research that uses C. elegans as a model, and for research into nematodes that cause disease. By relating these two branches of nematode research, WormBase will be uniquely placed to enable community-wide exploitation of data emerging for parasites by applying information, experience, and technological infrastructure developed for C. elegans.