Tetrahymena genome database Wiki: a community-maintained model organism database

When funding for Tetrahymena Genome Database (TGD) ended in 2006, no further updates were made to this important community resource and the main database was taken offline in 2008. We have restored and updated this important resource for use by the Tetrahymena research community. We have also retooled the TGD website (now TGD Wiki) to allow members of the community to directly update the information presented for each gene, including gene names, descriptions and Gene Ontology annotations, from a web browser. Maintenance of genome annotations by the authors generating and publishing primary data, rather than dedicated scientific curators, is a viable alternative for the upkeep of genomes, particularly for organisms with smaller research communities. By combining simple, intuitive displays with the powerful search functions made possible by its underlying relational database, TGD Wiki has been designed to maximize participation by bench scientists in the development of their community bioinformatics resource.