Daphnia magna Genome Sequencing Project
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Daphnia magna is regarded as the premier invertebrate model for ecotoxicological research. Because of
Daphnia's central position in aquatic food webs and its accessibility to field and laboratory testing, this species is invariantly included in toxicological research for chemical effects on freshwater ecosystems.
Daphnia are unusually sensitive to environmental contaminants and are key reference taxa for setting regulatory limits by environmental protection agencies around the globe. Of the nearly 500,000 records in the ECOTOX database, waterfleas represent 8% of all experimental data for aquatic organisms. The extensive literature on ecological research on
Daphnia exceeds 4,000 articles over the past century (lately averaging a paper a day), and over 7,000 articles on cladocerans have been published since 1855. As part of the ongoing research activities of the
Daphnia Genomics Consortium, this project sequences, assembles and annotates the
D. magna genome. Genome information obtained from this distantly related species will help inform the maturing
Daphnia pulex genome project and broaden understanding on the genome biology of Crustacea.
PROJECT LEADERS: John Colbourne
FUNDING: Members of the Daphnia Genomics Consortium
DATA: Sequencing began June 2, 2008. Genome Project Collaboration Wiki.
