Phenoplasm: a database of disruption phenotypes for malaria parasite genes

Abstract

Two decades from the first Plasmodium transfection, attempts have been made to disrupt more than 900 genes in malaria parasites, across five Plasmodium species. While results from the rodent malarias have been curated and systematised, phenotypic data for species of human malaria parasites has existed only scattered across a large literature. To facilitate systematic views of known experimental-genetic data across Plasmodium species, we have built PhenoPlasm (http://www.phenoplasm.org), a database of phenotypes for Plasmodium parasites. The site provides a simple interface to link citation-backed Plasmodium reverse-genetic phenotypes to gene IDs. The database has been populated with phenotypic data on 330 P. falciparum genes, curated from 155 individual publications, as well as existing curated data from RMgmDB. These data are presented using 1: 1 ortholog mapping to allow a researcher interested in a gene in one species to see results across Plasmodium. The collaborative nature of the database enables any researcher to add new phenotypes as they are discovered.