
ChirpBase
a genome database
enabling evolutionary, functional and comparative
genomic research on acoustically signalling insects
Charismatic minifauna
Singing insects in the order Orthoptera such as crickets, katydids and grasshoppers are prominent research models for studying acoustic communication, sexual selection and speciation. Cricket song is associated with some of the fastest rates of evolution and diversification ever documented, and neurophysiological work has greatly informed how signaller and receiver physiology influence the evolution of mate recognition.
Chirpbase is a community resource designed to build on these research traditions, enabling large-scale functional and comparative genomics projects in this fascinating group of organisms.
Please enjoy exploring the website, and stay tuned for further developments!
Chirpbase is a collaboration led by the Bailey Lab at the University of St Andrews and the Blaxter Lab at the University of Edinburgh. Emma Langan, Richard Challis and Sujai Kumar developed and implemented Chirpbase using the GenomeHubs schema. We gratefully acknowledge funding from NERC (NE/I027800/1 and NE/L011255/1 to Bailey) and BBSRC (BB/K020161/1 to Blaxter).
For further information, please contact us at nwb3@st-andrews.ac.uk