The social amoeba Dictyostelium is an experimental organism with an expanding repertoire of genetic techniques. In addition to the experimental advantages that it offers, this amoeba is being used to address questions in numerous areas of biology that range from bacterial pathogenesis to chemotaxis and motility, to evolutionary biology, among many others. The workers in the field are generating a large number of strains and other valuable tools, including many cDNA and mutant libraries. Research using Dictyostelium would be made more effective if these strains and libraries could be stored safely and distributed effectively. Therefore, we propose to establish a strain repository to secure, test, and distribute the raw material for research in this field. The curators of this facility would also maintain the database of Dictyostelium references, now numbering more than 7000, and provide other assistance to people who wish to exploit Dictyostelium to answer a variety of biological questions. We envisage a very active facility serving the community.
| Shaulsky, Gad; Kessin, Richard H (2007) The cold war of the social amoebae. Curr Biol 17:R684-92 |
