Dear C. elegans Community,
We have a live collection of over 100 different species of rhabditid
nematodes related to Caenorhabditis at various phylogenetic levels.
Most have been identified to species and can be cultured fairly easily.
Several labs already use this collection for comparative studies at
molecular, developmental, morphological, and population levels. We are
working on a phylogeny for these nematodes to provide an explicit
evolutionary context for such studies (in fact, our phylogeny for
Caenorhabditis served an important role in helping identify species for
the next genome sequencing projects). We also plan to develop a
web-accessible database with lots of information about each species
(collection data, taxonomy, morphology, biology, etc., which could be
integrated with Wormbase). (A strain synonymization database currently
exists, called WSRN, but needs much updating and does not have much
data other than strain designations and strain origins.)
Not surprisingly, it takes a significant amount of time and money to
develop, improve, and maintain such a resource, as well as to make it
accessible to the scientific community. The higher the community
interest level, the higher the quality of service can be offered at a
lower cost per user. So, we would like to gauge your interest in using
this resource in your research. If you might have use for such a
resource now or in the foreseeable future, PLEASE send me a very brief
e-mail with:
your name
your university/dept. affiliation
and a couple of words describing how you might use such a resource.
Many thanks,
Dave Fitch
david.fitch at nyu.edu
P.S. Please pass this on to others you think might also be interested.
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~ David H. A. Fitch ~ \ / / /
~ Associate Professor ~ \/ / /
~ Department of Biology ~ \ / /
~ New York University ~ [] / /
~ Main Building, Room 1009 ~ \ / /
~ 100 Washington Square East ~ \/ /
~ New York, NY 10003 ~ \ /
~ U S A ~ \/
~ Tel.: (212) 998-8254 ~ \
~ Fax: (212) 995-4015 ~ \
~ e-mail: david.fitch at nyu.edu ~ \
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http://www.nyu.edu/projects/fitch/
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