The Daphnia Genomics Consortium Meeting: the genome biology of the model crustacean Daphnia.

The fourth Daphnia Genomics Consortium Meeting was held from July 7th through July 9th, 2007 at Indiana University (Bloomington, IN, USA). This year’s meeting was entitled The Genome Biology of the Model Crustacean Daphnia and was highlighted by the initial public release of the draft version of the Daphnia pulex genome. In collaboration with the US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (JGI; CA, USA), the Daphnia Genomics Consortium (DGC) successfully sequenced the D. pulex genome, representing the first crustacean genome to be analyzed. Daphnia are freshwater crustaceans found in most lakes and ponds throughout the globe, and have been ecologically investigated since the 1600s. They are arguably one of the best understood organisms. Daphnia are internationally recognized as an indicator of environmental health and, consequently, as a bioassay of aquatic toxicity, to define regulatory limits and to monitor effluents released into fresh water. Daphnia are primary grazers of algae and primary forage for fish; as such, they are considered keystone species in aquatic ecosystems. The DGC is an international network of investigators committed to establishing Daphnia as a premiere model system, surpassing traditional model systems in investigations of environmental interactions, by incorporating Daphnia’s wellestablished ecological knowledge base. In a community-wide effort, the DGC is: • Coordinating efforts towards developing the Daphnia genomic toolbox, which will then be available for use by the general community;