PNDB: A Parasitic Nematode Database
by Mark Blaxter
A Proposal for a Comprehensive Nematode Database
The free living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been chosen
as a model system to develop the technology for genome analysis projects.
In order to collate and distribute the C. elegans data, a unique
and powerful database (ACeDB) has been developed which integrates physical,
genetic and sequence data. We propose that this database should be enriched
by the addition of information on parasitic nematodes. This Parasitic Nematode
DataBase (PNDB) will encourage and support collaboration between parasitologists
and more basic researchers in the C. elegans field, and bring parasites
to the notice of a wide audience.
Call for Interested Collaborators
We have purchased the hardware for the database project and are in the first
stages of setting it up. We are here asking for interested workers in the
field to contact us so that we can gauge the response and keep you in formed
of progress. We are particularly interested in sites which could act as
testers of the database. We intend to include data of the following types:
parasitic nematode species and their life-cycles (plant and animal parasites),
sequence data, a comprehensive bibliography, an extensive list of workers
in the field, the relationships of parasitic structures and sequences to
C. elegans, and unpublished observations and notes. The database
will be publicly available, both by electronic file transfer and by distribution
to user sites.
For more information please contact Mark Blaxter at:
Wellcome Research Centre
Biology Department
Imperial College
London SW7 2BB
United Kingdom
Ph:#44 71 225 8242 Fax:#44 71 225 8236
email: mlb@bio.ic.ac.uk