JaponicusDB: rapid deployment of a model organism database for an emerging model species

The fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces japonicus has recently emerged as a powerful system for studying the evolution of essential cellular processes, drawing on similarities as well as key differences between S. japonicus and the related, well-established model Schizosaccharomyces pombe. We have deployed the open-source, modular code and tools originally developed for PomBase, the S. pombe model organism database (MOD), to create JaponicusDB (www.japonicusdb.org), a new MOD dedicated to S. japonicus. By providing a central resource with ready access to a growing body of experimental data, ontology-based curation, seamless browsing and querying, and the ability to integrate new data with existing knowledge, JaponicusDB supports fission yeast biologists to a far greater extent than any other source of S. japonicus data. JaponicusDB thus enables S. japonicus researchers to realize the full potential of studying a newly emerging model species and illustrates the widely applicable power and utility of harnessing reusable PomBase code to build a comprehensive, community-maintainable repository of species-relevant knowledge.