C. elegans, or Caenorhabditis elegans, is a one of the most popular model organism used in biomedical research. Transparency, ability to be frozen, and easy and cheap breeding all make C. elegans an ideal model for research.

In this blog post, we will look into WormBase’s gene database of C. elegans. Wormbase provides up-to-date informations regarding genomics and biology of C. elegans. Their vast amount of data, including genes, proteins, expressions, phenotypes, sequence, ontology etc, are both applicable to biologists and computer scientists.

Using NIF, Wormbase: Genes can be accessed by searching for specific gene name. For example, we can search for the gene pcn-1 (Search syntax = gene:pcn-1). WormBase Genes can be found under Nervous System Level -> Genes

Above image is the result of the search. It gives you gene, description, expression, Gene Ontology info, KOG Functional info and phenotype. Clicking the gene will take you to the WormBase gene for more details. For more information on how to WormBase Genes, please visit WormBase Genes Tutorial.

The NIF Data Spotlight is a weekly blog post highlighting the databases, information, and resources curated by the Neuroscience Information Framework. For comments, questions or concerns feel free to drop us a line at curation@neuinfo.org.