SeaBase

Marine and aquatic animals are extraordinarily useful as models for identifying mechanisms of development and evolution, regeneration, resistance to cancer, longevity and symbiosis, among many other areas of research. This is due to the great diversity of these organisms and their wide-ranging capabilities. Genomics tools are essential for taking advantage of these "free lessons" of nature. However, genomics and transcriptomics are challenging in emerging model systems. Here, we present SeaBase, a tool for helping to meet these needs. Specifically, SeaBase provides a platform for sharing and searching transcriptome data. More importantly, SeaBase will support a growing number of tools for inferring gene network mechanisms. The first dataset available on SeaBase is a developmental transcriptomic profile of the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis (Anthozoa, Cnidaria). Additional datasets are currently being prepared and we are aiming to expand SeaBase to include user-supplied data for any number of marine and aquatic organisms, thereby supporting many potentially new models for gene network studies

海洋与水生动物作为模式生物，在解析发育与演化、再生、抗癌机制、寿命调控以及共生关系等诸多研究领域中具备极高的应用价值。这得益于这类生物极高的物种多样性与广泛的功能特性。基因组学工具是充分利用这类大自然赋予的天然研究素材的核心手段。然而，针对新兴模式生物系统开展基因组学与转录组学研究仍存在诸多挑战。为此，我们推出SeaBase——一款旨在满足此类研究需求的工具平台。具体而言，SeaBase提供了一个用于转录组数据共享与检索的平台。更为重要的是，SeaBase将支持数量不断增长的基因网络调控机制推断工具。SeaBase上线的首个数据集为星状海葵（Nematostella vectensis，刺胞动物门珊瑚纲）的发育转录组图谱。目前尚有更多数据集正在筹备中，我们的目标是将SeaBase拓展至支持用户上传任意海洋与水生生物的数据，从而为诸多潜在的基因网络研究新模型提供支撑。