Achievements and impact of Japanese Caenorhabditis elegans bioresources on the global research community

The Caenorhabditis elegans bioresources maintained in Japan is instrumental in advancing basic biology and biomedical research worldwide. Large-scale collections of gene deletion mutants, transgenic strains, and related genetic tools are systematically curated and distributed to the global research community. This review summarizes the impact of these resources on major scientific breakthroughs, including the advancing our understanding of RNA interference (RNAi) and its epigenetic inheritance, lifespan regulation, autophagy, mitochondrial quality control pathways, lipid metabolic regulation, and interactions between innate immunity and neuronal responses. Moreover, the collection includes approximately 4,000 mutants of human gene orthologs, enabling the elucidation of evolutionarily conserved pathways underlying human disease-related processes. By providing genetically defined and easily accessible model organism strains, the Japanese C. elegans bioresource center have established an indispensable foundation for both basic and advanced biomedical research, thereby accelerating research across diverse life science fields.