# Dictyostelium Community Resource

> **NIH NIH R24** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2023 · $818,339

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The Dictyostelium Community Resource (DCR) is an integrated resource for investigators using Dictyostelium
and related species for biomedical research and training. The DCR integrates two previously separately funded
resources, dictyBase, the model organism database and the Dicty Stock Center, the strain and materials
collection for Dictyostelids, to create a comprehensive community resource. The DCR is a combination of a
computational and physical resource - each with separate roles but sharing infrastructure and user clientele.
Given their related and interconnected goals, this integration of the two promotes efficiency, allowing users to
obtain both curated information and research materials from the same organization. The DCR, widely supported
by the research community, provides gold standard expert literature curation of genes, functional annotations
using the Gene Ontology and a wide range of genomic resources in an intuitive and readily searchable online
resource. Dictyostelium is widely used to study cellular processes such as cell motility, chemotaxis, signal
transduction, cellular response to drugs, and host-pathogen interactions. Dictyostelium's genome contains
significant orthologs of vertebrate, yeast and microbial genes, attracting researchers interested in a wide variety
of biological topics including human disease, multicellular differentiation and comparative genomics. The DCR
enables researchers to search, view and download up-to-date genomic, functional and technical information. It
is also widely used by teachers/instructors due to the wealth of available teaching materials and research
protocols. Dictyostelium investigators depend on dictyBase as their primary community resource, where help
from dictyBase staff (DCR help line) or from other users (Dicty ListServ, moderated by the DCR) is available.
We are in the final stages of deploying our completely new technology stack. By the end of this year dictyBase
will be run entirely as a cloud-based application. This propoal seeks support the operation and expansion of this
important community resource. Our goals for this proposal are: (Aim 1) Support the community of investigators
using Dictyostelium and related species, (Aim 2) Provide scientific curation of D.discoideum and related species
for community of investigators, (Aim 3) Maintain and distribute the strain collection; (Aim 4) Expand the Coverage
of Species and Strains; (Aim 5) Improve Accessibility and Utility of the DCR. This support would build upon NIH
funded resources by fully integrating and improving them.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10691311
- **Project number:** 5R24GM137770-04
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** REX L CHISHOLM
- **Activity code:** R24 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $818,339
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10691311

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10691311, Dictyostelium Community Resource (5R24GM137770-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10691311. Licensed CC0.

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