GENE-EXPRESSION AND DEVELOPMENT DATABASES FOR C-ELEGANS

The nematode worm C. elegans, with its transparent body, is an excelle nt vehicle for studying developmental gene expression during embryogen esis and throughout its short life. Expression data from in-situ hybri dization, immunolocalization and reporter constructs have been put int o the ACeDB database, which is used to store and disseminate most type s of C. elegans data, and is also widely used for genome-sequencing pr ojects. In the database, the gene-expression patterns are linked to ge nes, sequences, cells, organs and the developmental stage in which exp ression occurs. An accessory program 'Angler' can be used to browse se ctional Nomarski images of the worm embryo during early development, a nd to relate these images to overlaid cell lineage data and 3-D schema tic views of cell positions. (C) 1997 Academic Press Ltd.