Theresa Stiernagle et al. (2007) International Worm Meeting "Caenorhabditis Genetics Center."

Ann E Rougvie, Robert K Herman, Theresa Stiernagle

[International Worm Meeting, 2007]

The Caenorhabditis Genetics Center (CGC), supported by NIH NCRR, supplies Caenorhabditis strains and information to researchers throughout the world. On May 31, 2007, which marks the end of our current 15-year contract, Ann Rougvie will replace Bob Herman as CGC Director, and Bob will retain an advisory role as a Professor Emeritus. The CGC will continue to be housed at Minnesota and curated by Theresa Stiernagle. A five year renewal contract was submitted in August and is pending at NIH. We anticipate that a final (and positive) funding decision will be in hand by the start of the 2007 worm meeting. The CGC will continue its duties of acquiring, maintaining and distributing worm stocks, but other past activities of the CGC have been subsumed by WormBase. These include generating and maintaining a C. elegans bibliography, providing a clearinghouse for C. elegans genetic nomenclature, and maintaining a genetic map. The CGC now has over 8550 different strains. We strive to have at least one allele of every published gene and all chromosome rearrangements, duplications and deficiencies. In addition, we have several strains of species closely related to C. elegans. A searchable strains list will continue to be accessible either through the CGC website (www.cbs.umn.edu/CGC/) or through WormBase. Strains are available upon written request, which should include a brief statement of the intended use of the strains. Email requests (to cgc@umn.edu) are satisfactory. We provide quarterly reports to the NIH with statistics that reflect our services to the worm community. We like to be acknowledged in papers for providing strains. We also like to receive reprints of worm papers (.pdf files are encouraged), copies of which we also provide to NIH.

Theresa Stiernagle et al. (2003) International Worm Meeting "Caenorhabditis Genetics Center"

Robert Herman, Amy Daly, Leon Avery, Theresa Stiernagle, Chao-Kung Chen, Jonathan Hodgkin

[International Worm Meeting, 2003]

The Caenorhabditis Genetics Center (CGC), supported by NIH NCRR, supplies Caenorhabditis strains and information to researchers. The Minnesota team is responsible for acquiring, maintaining and distributing worm stocks, generating and maintaining a C. elegans bibliography, and publishing the Worm Breeder's Gazette (WBG). The English team acts as a clearinghouse for C. elegans genetic nomenclature and maintains the genetic map. The Texas team maintains the C. elegans web page. The CGC now has over 5000 different strains. We strive to have at least one allele of every published gene and all chromosome rearrangements, duplications and deficiencies. In addition, we have several strains of species closely related to C. elegans. Strains are available upon written request, which should include a brief statement of the intended use of the strains. Email requests (to stier@biosci.cbs.umn.edu) are satisfactory. The CGC bibliography currently includes over 5500 research articles, reviews and book chapters. The WBG is currently published twice each year. We would like comments about whether or not the WBG should be continued. Various types of information are available electronically from the CGC. You can get current strain lists, the C. elegans researcher directory, nomenclature guidelines, and the CGC bibliography at biosci.cbs.umn.edu/CGC. The English site contains a series of forms for submission of genetic map data, and this is the preferred method of data collection (www.sanger.ac.uk/Projects/C_elegans/CGC). Tables of data from the biennially produced map book are available for viewing or downloading. The Worm Breeder's Gazette and lots of other useful worm information are made available by Leon Avery at elegans.swmed.edu or at Nektarios Tavernarakis' European mirror of this site at elegans.imbb.forth.gr. We like to be acknowledged in papers for providing strains. We also like to receive reprints of worm papers (.pdf files are encouraged).

Theresa Stiernagle et al. (2005) International Worm Meeting "Caenorhabditis Genetics Center"

Leon Avery, Mary Ann Tuli, Robert Herman, Theresa Stiernagle, Jonathan Hodgkin, Amy Daly

[International Worm Meeting, 2005]

The Caenorhabditis Genetics Center (CGC), supported by NIH NCRR, supplies Caenorhabditis strains and information to researchers. The Minnesota team is responsible for acquiring, maintaining and distributing worm stocks, and generating and maintaining a C. elegans bibliography. The English team acts as a clearing house for C. elegans genetic nomenclature and maintains the genetic map. The Texas team maintains the C. elegans web page. The CGC now has over 6670 different strains. We strive to have at least one allele of every published gene and all chromosome rearrangements, duplications and deficiencies. In addition, we have several strains of species closely related to C. elegans. Strains are available upon written request, which should include a brief statement of the intended use of the strains. Email requests (to stier@cbs.umn.edu) are satisfactory. The CGC bibliography currently includes over 6870 research articles and book chapters. Various types of information are available electronically from the CGC. You can get current strain lists, the C. elegans researcher directory, nomenclature guidelines, and the CGC bibliography at biosci.cbs.umn.edu/CGC. The English site contains a series of forms for submission of genetic map data, and this is the preferred method of data collection (www.sanger.ac.uk/Projects/C_elegans/CGC). Tables of data from the biennially produced map book are available for viewing or downloading. The Worm Breeder's Gazette and lots of other useful worm information are made available by Leon Avery at elegans.swmed.edu or at Nektarios Tavernarakis European mirror of this site at elegans.imbb.forth.gr. We like to be acknowledged in papers for providing strains. We also like to receive reprints of worm papers (.pdf files are encouraged).

Theresa Stiernagle et al. (2001) International C. elegans Meeting "Caenorhabditis Genetics Center"

Leon Avery, Theresa Stiernagle, Robert Herman, Sylvia Martinelli, Jonathan Hodgkin

[International C. elegans Meeting, 2001]

Rougvie, Ann E. et al. (2009) International Worm Meeting "Caenorhabditis Genetics Center."

Stiernagle, Theresa, Rougvie, Ann E.

[International Worm Meeting, 2009]

The Caenorhabditis Genetics Center (CGC), supported by the National Institutes of Health - National Center for Research Resources (NIH-NCRR), supplies Caenorhabditis strains and information to researchers throughout the world. The CGC continues to be housed at the University of Minnesota, but will see changes in the next year as Theresa Stiernagle retires as Curator and pursues other interests. The CGC will continue its duties of acquiring, maintaining and distributing worm stocks. The CGC now has over 11,499 different strains. We strive to have at least one allele of every published gene and all chromosome rearrangements, duplications and deficiencies. Selected multiple-mutant stocks and transgenic strains are also available including strains that express various green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter fusions. The CGC also has stocks of nematode species closely related to C. elegans and bacterial strains necessary for nematode growth. A searchable strains list, including information about CGC stocks, is accessible either through the CGC website (www.cbs.umn.edu/CGC/) or through WormBase. Requests for strains should be made via the on-line ordering system available through our website. As mandated by NIH-NCRR, a small yearly user fee and charge per strain is assessed with each order. The CGC strongly encourages use of credit cards for these charges. We provide quarterly reports to the NIH with statistics that reflect our services to the worm community. We especially like to be acknowledged in papers for providing strains. We also like to receive pdf files of such papers, copies of which we provide to NIH.

Mary-Ann Tuli et al. (2007) International Worm Meeting "CGC and WormBase."

Jonathan Hodgkin, Mary-Ann Tuli, Theresa Stiernagle, Robert Herman, Richard Durbin

[International Worm Meeting, 2007]

WormBase is an international consortium of biologists and computer scientists from Caltech (USA), Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory (USA), Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (UK) and the Genome Sequencing Center at Washington University (USA). The UK WormBase group works closely with the Caenorhabditis Genetics Center (CGC) to curate genetic nomenclature and maintain the C.elegans genetic map. Detailed guidelines are accessible via http://www.cbs.umn.edu/CGC/Nomenclature/nomenguid.htm Release WS170 (Jan 2007) contains 54213 WBGeneIDs (unique gene identifiers) of which 25533 are from C.elegans and 19666 from C.briggsae. The number of CDS objects which have been assigned a CGC approved gene name in release WS170 (Jan 2007) is 7300 (compared to 5707 in release WS140 (March 2005). Strain data is sent to WormBase from the CGC in Minneapolis every month. The extensive cross referencing within these objects allows users to easily find information relating to a specific strain. The number of strains in WS170 is 13000 of which 8000 are stored at the CGC. Manual curation of allele data by WormBase biologists is an ongoing project and recent efforts have seen the backlog of post-2001 publications cleared. Many of these alleles have details of the strain carrying the mutation and a description of the lesion. If we know the location of a mutation, we are now able to automatically attach an accurate description of how it affects a gene and give the amino acid change if applicable. This has considerably enhanced allele representation in WormBase. We are now able to start working on pre-2001 publications. Allele information is either captured from scientific journals or submitted directly by researchers using the WormBase submission forms at http://wormbase.org/db/curate/online_forms We continue our long term collaboration with the C. elegans Gene Knockout Consortium ( http://celeganskoconsortium.omrf.org/ ) and the National Bioresource Deletion Mutant Project ( http://shigen.lab.nig.ac.jp/c.elegans/index.jsp ) A link to the source database from WormBase allows users to view more detailed information about individual alleles. Since WS153 (Dec 2005) WormBase has been collaborating with the NemaGENETAG Mos insertion project ( http://elegans.imbb.forth.gr/nemagenetag/ ) and in WS174 had over 4000 alleles including full details of the Mos insertion site. We have developed a web form where collaborators can upload their data which has streamlined the submission procedure. WormBase is supported by a grant from the National Human Genomes Reseach Institute at the US National Institute of Health #P41 HG02223 and the British Medical Research Council. CGC is supported by NIH NCRR.

Mary Ann Tuli et al. (2005) International Worm Meeting "CGC and WormBase"

Mary Ann Tuli, Theresa Stiernagle, Jonathan Hodgkin, Robert Herman, Richard Durbin

[International Worm Meeting, 2005]

WormBase is an international consortium of biologists and computer scientists from Caltech (USA), Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory (USA), Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (UK) and the Genome Sequencing Center at Washington University (USA). WormBase is dedicated to providing the research community with accurate, current, accessible information concerning the genetics, genomics and biology of C.elegans and some related nematodes. WormBase can be freely accessed at www.wormbase.org and is also available for download at ftp://ftp.wormbase.org/pub/wormbase/. A new database release is produced every three weeks. The UK WormBase group works closely with the Caenorhabditis Genetics Center (CGC) to curate genetic nomenclature and maintain the C.elegans genetic map. Detailed guidelines are accessible via http://www.cbs.umn.edu/CGC/Nomenclature/nomenguid.htm Since WS126 (June 2004) all CDSs, transcripts and pseudogenes have been assigned an identifier of the form WBGene00000001. This identifier is unique and remains stable when the gene object is updated. Release WS140 (March 2005) contains 44107 WBGeneIDs of which 24506 are from C.elegans, and 19587 from C.briggsae. The number of CDS objects which have been assigned a CGC approved gene name is 5707. In release WS140 (March 2005) the Variation class was introduced as a more efficient way to handle most of what was in the Allele and Locus classes. The Variation class incorporates the following: Alleles, SNPs (both confirmed and predicted), RFLPs and transposon insertions. Curation of allele data by WormBase biologists is an ongoing project and recent efforts have seen the number of Allele objects in the database increase from about 9000 in WS110 (October 2003) to about 11200 in WS140 (March 2005). Allele information is either captured from scientific journals or submitted directly by researchers using the WormBase submission forms at http://wormbase.org/db/curate/base WormBase is supported by a grant from the National Human Genomes Reseach Institute at the US National Institute of Health #P41 HG02223 and the British Medical Research Council. CGC is supported by NIH NCRR.

Mary Ann Tuli et al. (2006) European Worm Meeting "CGC and WormBase"

Richard Durbin, Mary Ann Tuli, Robert Herman, Jonathan Hodgkin, Theresa Stiernagle

[European Worm Meeting, 2006]

WormBase is an international consortium of biologists and computer scientists from Caltech (USA), Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (USA), Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (UK) and the Genome Sequencing Center at Washington University (USA).. WormBase is dedicated to providing the research community with accurate, current, accessible information concerning the genetics, genomics and biology of C.elegans, and some related nematodes. WormBase can be freely accessed at www.wormbase.org, and is also available for download at ftp://ftp.wormbase.org/pub/wormbase. A new data release is produced every three weeks. The UK WormBase group works closely with the Caenorhabditis Genetics Center (CGC) to curate genetic nomenclature and maintain the C.elegans genetic map. Detailed guidelines are accessible via http://www.cbs.umn.edu/CGC/Nomenclature /nomedguid.htm. All CDSs, transcripts and pseuodgenes are assigned an identifier of the form WBGene00000001. This identifier is unique and remains stable when the gene object is updated. Release WS150 (November 2005) contains 44644 WBGeneIDs of which 25043 are from C.elegans, and 19587 from C.briggsae. The number of CDS objects, which have been assigned a CGC approved gene name is 6638. In release WS140 (March 2005) the Variation class was introduced as a more efficient way to handle most of what was in the Allele and Locus class. The Variation class incorporates the following: Alleles, SNPs (both confirmed and predicted), RFLPs and transposon insertions. Curation of allele data by WormBase biologists is an ongoing project and in response to the WormBase 2005 Users survey (http://www.wormbase.org/announcements/newsletters /pdf/2006-01.pdf) we will curate these more intensely. Allele information is either captured from scientific journals or submitted directly be researchers using the WormBase submission forms at http://wormbase.org/db/curate.base. WormBase is supported by a grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute at the US National Institute of Health #P41 HG02223 and the British Medical Research Council. CGC is supported by NIH NCRR.

Chao-Kung Chen et al. (2003) International Worm Meeting "CGC and WormBase"

Chao-Kung Chen, Theresa Stiernagle, Richard Durbin, Jonathan Hodgkin, Keith Bradnam

[International Worm Meeting, 2003]

Shahid S Siddiqui et al. (2003) International Worm Meeting "Regulation of endocytosis in intestinal epithelium by components of TGF-beta Signaling"

Asrar B Malik, Garth Patterson, Zeba K Siddiqui, Shahid S Siddiqui

[International Worm Meeting, 2003]

Previously, in Caenorhabditis elegans a conserved TGF-beta signaling pathway has been characterized (Riddle, 1997, Thomas, 2001). This pathway is known to control dauer formation behavior, similar to the daf-2 insulin like signaling pathway. The daf-7 encodes a homolog of the GDF-8 and is expressed in the chemosensory neuron ASI, and the type I and type II TGF beta Ser/Thr receptor kinases are encoded by daf-1 and daf-4. The downstream Smad proteins are encoded by daf-8, and daf-14 genes that couple the TGF beta signals from DAF-1 and DAF-4 receptor kinases to regulate transcription of downstream genes. We have examined the role of various components of the TGF beta pathway in albumin endocytosis in the intestinal epithelial cells in post-emb ryonic development, and described that mutations in daf-1 and daf-4 inhibit albumin endocytosis in the intestinal cells. Genetic analysis reveals that mutations in daf-3 null mutation completely suppress the endocytosis defective phenotype of daf-1, daf-4 , daf-7 and daf-8 mutations, suggesting an independent endocytosis pathway exposed by mutations in daf-3. The daf-3 encoded protein is homologous to vertebrate DPC4, a cofactor of Smad1, Smad2, and Smad3. In contrast, downstream components of the TGF-beta signaling that affect body size, such as sma-2, sma-3, and sma-6 apparently have no effect on albumin endocytosis in the intestine. We thank D. Riddle, G. Ruvkun, C. Savage, J. Thomas and T. Stiernagle, CGC for strains and L. Jacobson for making the original observation that mutants in daf-4 are defective in albumin uptake.