Mechanosensation methods updated in WormBook

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Dear Worm Researchers,

Assaying mechanosensation, by Marty Chalfie, Anne Hart, Cathy Rankin, and Miriam Goodman, has been published in the Behavioral assays section of WormMethods. This chapter updates and expands the mechanosensation assays currently found in the 2006 chapter, Behavior, edited by Anne Hart. In addition to updating assays for gentle and harsh touch, precipice response, nictation, head withdrawal and foraging, tap reflex, habituation to tap, and nose touch, the new chapter describes mechanical stimulation during electrical or optical recording.

Please proceed to read this chapter and others on nematode biology at http://www.wormbook.org/. If you have any comments or suggestions, please submit them via the Feedback page on wormbook.org.

Thank you for your interest in WormBook,

Jane Mendel
Editor, WormBook

Worm Breeders Gazette submission deadline

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Dear Worm Researchers,

The deadline for submissions to the next issue of The Worm Breeder’s Gazette is Monday, September 15, with publication following about a week later. While we will accept all articles, we would like to emphasize CRISPR methodology in this issue. So, if you have developed or improved any techniques you think would be useful to the community, please take the time to write up your protocol and submit it at http://www.wormbook.org/wbg/.

In addition to articles summarizing research, we also welcome announcements (particularly for new labs), editorials, humor, and artwork.

Articles should be a single page in length.

Looking forward to your contributions to the Gazette,

Jane

Jane Mendel
Editor, WormBook

Poster abstract deadline extended for Neuro Topic Meeting 2014!

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The poster abstract deadline for the C. elegans topic meeting in Neuronal Development, Synaptic Function and Behavior has been extended! Submissions will be accepted through the end of the day on Friday, May 23. All grad student and postdoc posters will be eligible for poster prizes. Submit your abstract here

Human disease model data in WormBase

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You don’t have to look anywhere else to see if the gene of your interest is a genetic model for human disease! Both manually curated and orthology-based human disease related data for genes is presented on the gene page in the the ‘Overview’ section and in the ‘Human Diseases’ widget in the side-bar. This data indicates whether the gene is an ‘Experimental model’ for a human disease based on experimental evidences from the manually curated literature, or a ‘Potential model’ based on orthology with a human gene/s. You can also search by a disease term (DO term) from the autocomplete search box at the top of every web page, eg., ‘Alzheimer’s disease’.  Currently, over 250 genes have been manually curated, for their relevance to human disease and several hundred genes are flagged as potential models, based on orthology to human disease genes. The relevant human genes from the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) database and associated diseases are displayed as well. Currently we are working to improve disease displays and will continue to expand this data. Please let us know if we have missed a published experimental disease model in C. elegans!