Silkworm Databases and Research Tools: A Comprehensive Guide for Advancing Sericulture Research

Farmers in several countries rely on sericulture as an important source of subsistence. Due to the economic significance of silkworms, there has been extensive research in sericulture, resulting in a vast amount of biological data. In recent years, research in silkworms, pathogens, and hosts has made tremendous progress. High-throughput analysis methods used to study genomes generate large amounts of data, leading to the creation of several databases to organize information. Databases such as KAIKObase, SilkDB, and SilkBase provide genetic maps, genomic and transcriptomic annotations, functional annotations, and information on cDNAs, EST clusters, TEs, mutants, and SNPs. This chapter offers an up-to-date review of the silkworm and associated databases, exploring the content, features, tools, and scope of each database. It aims to provide a comprehensive guide to researchers, enabling them to leverage the databases and accelerate research.